THE  PILGRIM 


AND 


THE   PIONEER 


JOHN  C.  BELL 


BANCROFT 
LIBRARY 

-> 

THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


THE  PILGRIM  AND  THE  PIONEER. 


THE  PILGRIM  AND 

THE  PIONEEPv 


THE   SOCIAL   AND  MATERIAL 

DEVELOPMENTS   IN  THE 

ROCKY  MOUNTAINS 


BY 

JOHN  C.  BELL 

MONTROSE,  COLO., 

FOR  FOUR  YEARS  DISTRICT  JUDGE  AND  FOR  TEN  YEARS 

A  REPRESENTATIVE  IN  CONGRESS  FROM 

WESTERN  COLORADO. 


PRINTED  BY 

THE  INTERNATIONAL  PUBLISHING  ASS'N, 

College  View,  Lincoln,  Nebraska. 


Entered  according  to  act  of  Congress  in  the  year  1906  by 

JOHN  C.  BELL, 
in  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress  at  Washington. 


INTERNATIONAL  PUB,  ASS'N 
Publishers,  Printers  and  Translators 
COLLEGE  VIEW,  LINCOLN,  NEBRASKA 


i,<v  a 


CONTENTS, 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

Preface 11 

I.    Crossing  the  Plains 13 

II.    Gratitude  Personified 27 

III.  Freezing  Out  Selfishness 41 

IV.  The  Seared  Conscience  of  Greed 59 

V.  Lifting  the  Golden  Scales 73 

VI.  A  Pebble  Turned  the  Current 99 

VII.  Entree  to  Society 109 

VIII.  The  World  a  Glass  House  to  the  False. .  119 

IX.  Red  Buck 131 

X.  Lost  Paystreak 141 

XI.  Troubles  of  a  Trifle 145 

XII.  A  Night  in  a  Cow  Camp 159 

XIII.  The     Wild    Imaginations    of    a    New 

Country 177 

XIV.  A  Typical  Mining  Camp 189 

XV.  The  Judge 197 

XVI.  The  Colored  Delegate 209 

XVII.  He  Called  the  Bluff 223 

XVIII.  "Can't"  Not  Applicable  to  a  Just  Cause  237 
XIX.  Shifting  Scenes  of  a  Pioneer  Town.  .  .  .   245 
XX.  Western  Civilization  Exalts  Women.  . . .   259 
XXI.  Mining    Expert   Hypnotized    by    Back- 
Capper 267 

XXII.  Crossing  Sneffle's  Range.  ., 307 

XXIII.  The  Little  Salamander 317 

XXIV.  Among  the  Rums  of  the  Aztecs 331 

(v) 


• 


vi 


XXV.  Retreating    343 

XXVI.  Going  to  the  Leadville  Boom 377 

XXVII.  Crossing  the  Deserts 395 

XXVIII.  The  Pioneer  Wedding § 415 

XXIX.  Through  the  Coeur  D'Alenes 421 

XXX.  Another  Self 431 

XXXI.  Mr.  Campbell's  First  Test 441 

XXXIL.  Influence  of  a  Noble  Act 445 

XXXIII.  Perfect  Ideals  Only  Are  Effective 455 

XXXIV.  Clearing  Up  the  Working  Model 461 

XXXV.  From  Trapper  and  Pioneer   to   Settled 

Conditions    . 479 

XXXVI.  Off  to  See  His  Children 513 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE 

The  Pilgrim  and  the  Pioneer Frontispiece 

The  Pioneer -and  His  Family 38 

Cold  water  Brings  the  Dead  to  Life 139 

A  Branding  Scene 164 

The  Duel 232 

The  Pilgrim  Waits  Outside 252 

Miss  Anthony  Addressing  the  Miners 258 

Bear  Creelc  Falls 282 

The  Picturesque  Town  of  Ouray 296 

The  Mummified  Indian 340 

The  Royal  Gorge 358 

The  Garden  of  the  Gods 370 

The  Exciting  Honey-Moon 418 

Stiff  in  Death 424 

He  Lost  the  Bet 439 

They  Paid  the  Penalty 450 

Persuading  Him  to  Break  His  Own  Horse 466 

Grave-yard  Scene 476 

Glenwood  Springs  and  Bath  House 480 

Brown  Palace  Hotel 485 

Brown  Palace  Hotel  Dining  Room 486 

New  Antler's  Hotel 490 

Beet  Sugar  Factory  at  Rocky  Ford.  ., 514 

And  She  Stood  Pat - .  520 

(vii) 


The  publication  of  this  book  was  awarded  to 
The  International  Publishing  Association,  not 
because  theirs  was  the  lowest  bid,  but  because 
the  high  character  of  those  connected  with  the 
Institution  was  impressed  on  the  Author, 
through  his  pleasant  negotiations  with  the  Mana- 
ger of  the  Association. 


ILLUSTRATIONS  BY 
JNO.  LOVE  £r  CO.,  Lincoln,  Nebr. 


If  this  book  is  not  found  with  your  dealer,  send 
$1.50  post-office  order,  or  draft,  to  The  Interna- 
tional Publishing  Association,  College  View,  Nebr., 
or  to  Jno.  C.  Bell,  Montrose,  Colo.,  and  it  will  be 
mailed  at  once. 


THE  PILGRIM  AND  THE 
PIONEER 


ERRATA. 

Page  19,  third  line  from  top  should  read,  "made  profert." 
Page  201,  12th  line  from  bottom  should  read,  "angle- 
worm" instead  of  "angle  worms." 


PREFACE. 

This  publication  is  an  experiment.  It  is  not  intended 
that  it  shall  follow  any  literary  form  or  meet  the  approba- 
tion of  the  literary  critic.  The  chief  aim  is  to  reach  a 
class  of  readers  who'  are  deterred  from  reading  abstract 
principles  of  lofty  precepts  in  closely  connected  thoughts, 
because  of  the  irksome  effort  involved.  The  fond  expecta- 
tion is  also  indulged  of  inducing  a  goodly  number  to  read 
these  pages  for  other  objects  than  the  high  moral  prin- 
ciples attempted  to  be  imparted,  and  that  enough  of  the 
every  day  philosophies  of  life  will  exude  through  the  bal- 
last to  beneficially  affect  some  of  these  lives. 

Scenes  are  intended  to  shift  and  subjects  to  change 
as  often  as  they  would  appear  to  the  reader,  were  he  mak- 
ing the  journeys  described  on  top  of  an  Overland  Stage 
Coach. 

Accurate  descriptions  of  important  places,  with  the 
accompanying,  moral,  social  and  material  developments, 
are  sufficiently  depicted  to  enable  one  who  reads  these 
pages  to  gain  a  fair  comprehension  of  the  early  civiliza- 
tion, present  development  and  future  possibilities,  .of  a 
part  of  the  country  that  is  wielding  and  is  destined  to 
wield  so  potent  an  influence  on  the  national  life,  that  no 
well  informed  person  can  afford  to  be  ignorant  of  its 

early  history, 
(xi) 


xii 

The  Pioneer,  the  Teacher,  and  the  Pilgrim,  the 
Taught,  are  introduced,  with  the  stirring  incidents  along 
the  way  of  a  great  journey  over  mountain  and  plain,  with 
much  adventure  and  short  story,  through  which  it  is 
hoped  to  filter  enough  of  the  triumphs  of  virtue,  to  impress 
some  of  the  wayward,  at  least,  with  a  desire  for  her  re- 
wards. The  confidence  is  also  evinced  here,  that  a  hint  to 
the  unwise  is  sufficient,  if  clothed  in  an  apt  example. 

— The  Experimenter. 


CHAPTER  I. 

CROSSING  THE  PLAINS. 

Mr.  John  Campbell,  of  middle  Tennessee,  belonged 
to  that  unfortunate  generation  of  the  South  which  had 
just  reached  the  prime  school  age  when  the  "irrepressible 
conflict"  between  the  states  broke  up  all  of  the  schools 
of  that  unhappy  land,  and  left  the  young  untaught,  un- 
travelled,  and  the  parents  impoverished. 

After  the  long,  bloody  conflict,  when  the  South  was 
pacified,  and  the  schools  were  rehabilitated,  this  neglected 
generation  was  crammed  with  the  contents  of  books,  and 
pressed  so  assiduously  that  the  pupils  could  assimilate 
nothing  outside  of  their  books,  and  only  those  with  iron 
constitutions  could  continue  to  the  end. 

On  the  28th  of  March,  1874,  John  Campbell  was 
proclaimed  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  Tennessee  to  be  duly 
qualified  to  sell  his  services  to  the  public  as  a  disciple  of 
Trebonian.  He  was  reduced  to  a  large,  angular"  frame, 
covered  with  a  few  stringy  ligaments  and  a  jaundiced 
and  cadaverous  looking  skin.  He  had  previously  written 
to  a  former  neighbor  and  good  friend,  then  engaged  in 
the  cattle  business  in  Georgetown,  Texas,  of  his  great 
emaciation.  In  turn  his  friend  invited  him  to  participate 
in  the  driving  of  a  large  herd  of  cattle  from  Texas  to 
Cheyenne,  Wyoming..  "Yes,"  said  Mr.  Campbell,  "I 
shall  accept,  hoping  thereby  to  recuperate  my  health  be- 
fore I  settle  down  in  some  frontier  town 'for  the  practice 
of  law,  or,  if  I  find  no  law  to  practice,  before  I  offer  my 
general  abilities  to  the  benighted  public,  until  the  people 
(13) 


14  THE  PILGRIM 

become  sufficiently  civilized  to  covet  the  services  of  this 
erudite  profession." 

The  estate  of  Tobe  Tully  had  forty  law  books  of 
the  elementary  kind  needed  almost  every  hour  in  the 
well  patronized  law  office.  These  John  Campbell  purchased, 
consoling  himself  with  the  thought  that  they  would,  in 
all  probability,  make  the  most  elaborate  library  which 
could  be  found  on  the  frontier,  one  which  he  confidently 
expected  would  secure  for  him  a  leading  position  at  the 
bar,  whenever  this  necessary  evil  should  be  called  into 
use.  The  foreboding  kept  intruding  on  his  mind :  "What 
will  you  do  if  there  is  no  great  demand  for  your  pro- 
fessional services  ?" 

It  occurred  to  him  that  while  at  school  Professor 
Hampton  used  to  send  his  class  out  to  survey,  plat  and  esti- 
mate the  extent  of  the  school  grounds  and  the  farms  of  the 
neighboring  settlement.  Professor  Hampton  had  often 
complimented  him  on  his  efficiency  in  running  lines  and 
computing  territorial  areas,  and  he  thought  that  prob- 
ably no  one  away  out  in  Wyoming  or  in  Colorado  would 
be  so  provident  as  to  have  a  compass,  or  that,  if  any- 
one should  have  such  a  rare  instrument,  he  probably  would 
know  but  little  about  the  proper  use  of  it.  Mr.  Camp- 
bell went  over  to  the  house  of  Prof.  Hampton,  revealed  his 
plans,  and  asked  the  price  of  the  old  compass  used  in 
the  school.  They  soon  agreed  upon  the  price,  and  the 
wisdom  of  the  plan,  and  Mr.  Campbell  bought  the 
compass,  manufactured  some  forty  years  previously, 
carefully  packed  it  and  his  library  on  April  1,  1874,  and 
with  a  sanguine  heart,  turned  his  face  westward. 

From  Nashville  to  St.  Louis  the  railroads  were  sell- 
ing tickets  around  via  Louisville  and  Chicago  for  the 
same  price  as  by  the  most  direct  route,  and  it  was  not 


AND  THE  PIONEER  15 

difficult  for  the  ticket  agent  to  convince  this  young  sprig 
of  the  law  and  prospective  surveyor  of  the  great  west- 
ern domain,  of  the  great  advantage  of  buying  his  ticket 
the  farthest  way  around,  as  at  the  best  he  would  only 
get  something  like  a  2,500  mile  railroad  journey. 

Every  time  Mr.  Campbell  thought  of  the  superior 
advantages  of  his  forty-law-book  library,  and  his  sur- 
veyor's compass,  he  felt  more  and  more  independent, 
and  could  see  no  use  of  economizing,  so  he  went  into  the 
Pullman,  bought  some  of  everything  that  the  newsboy 
brought  around,  and  talked  long  and  loud  about  the 
west. 

While  his  train  was  stopping  in  Louisville,  one  of  the 
high  officials  of  the  Chicago  land  office  and  his  wife,  each 
about  sixty  years  old,  took  possession  of  the  section  ad- 
joining him  in  the  rear,  and  an  immense,  florid,  well 
dressed  and  heavily  jeweled  man,  planted  himself  in  the 
section  with  Mr.  Campbell.  The  new  comer  was  soon 
engaged  in  hopeful  conversation  with  the  old  official  about 
the  promising  future  of  the  rapidly  developing  west. 

When  the  acquaintance  was  sufficient  to  put  all  of 
them  at  ease,  the  florid  gentleman  unlocked  a  clean, 
yellow  valise,  drew  from  it  three  tempting  Havanas,  and 
juggested:  "Let's  go  down  to  the  smoking  room  and  con- 
tinue this  enjoyable  conversation."  The  trio  of  men  then 
moved  to  the  gentleman's  drawing-room,  where  two  or 
three  persons  were  occupying  seats  smoking  and  reading, 
leaving,  however,  abundant  space.  The  host  of  this  little 
party  said  that  it  would  be  too  bad  to  disturb  the  guests 
in  there  with  their  western  boasts,  and  besides  there  was 
hardly  room  enough.  "Let's  go  down  to  the  smoking  car," 
he  suggested,  and  without  waiting  for  an  assent  from  his 
guests,  he  pressed  on  with  his  newly  made  friends  at  his 


16  THE  PILGRIM 

heels.  The  host  turned  a  seat  and  insisted  that  the 
land  office  official  should  occupy  the  forward  seat,  and 
he  asked  Mr.  Campbell  if  it  made  him  uncomfortable  to 
ride  with  his  back  to  the  engine.  Mr.  Campbell  replied, 
"Not  at  all."  "Very  well  then,"  said  the  host,  "take  that 
seat,  and  I  shall  sit  with  your  friend  here,  for  I  am  sorry 
to  say  that  my  stomach  revolts  at  riding  backward." 

The  chat  was  most  cordial  and  boastful  about  the 
growing  west,  until  the  cigars  were  about  half  consumed, 
then  the  florid  gentleman  asked  the  official  if  he  had  a 
deck  of  cards.  The  official  replied,  "No."  The  inter- 
rogator asked  one  after  another  of  those  around  him,  and 
after  a  time  a  little,  black,  wizard-looking  individual 
piped  out  that  he  had  a  euchre  deck  in  his  overcoat 
pocket  which  he  could  have  if  he  wished.  The  florid 
gentleman  replied  that  he  preferred  whist,  but  as  a  last 
resort  he  might  tolerate  euchre.  He  invited  the  possessor 
of  the  deck  to  join  them,  an  overcoat  was  spread  over  their 
laps,  and  the  official  and  the  black  wizard  were  pitted 
against  Mr.  Campbell  and  the  florid  gentleman. 

For  about  an  hour  or  more  the  game  broke  even, 
when  the  florid  gentleman  picked  up  his  hand,  looked  at 
it,  and  said : 

"If  I  were  playing  poker,  I  couldn't  fill  such  a  hand 
as  this." 

The  official  replied,  "I'll  bet  you  ten  dollars,  I  have 
a  better  hand!" 

The  florid  gentleman  drew  a  fifty  dollar  bill  from  his 
pocket  and  threw  it  on  the  table,  saying,  "I'll  raise  you 
forty  dollars.  You  dare  not  call  me!  You  haven't  the 
nerve!  I  always  heard  there  was  no  nerve  in  Chicago 
sports !  I  dare  you  to  call  it !" 


AND  THE  PIONEER  17 

The  wizard  looked  at  the  official's  hand. 

aOh  —  !"  he  ejaculated.  "Bet  him — bet  him  to  a 
standstill !" 

The  florid  gentleman  feigned  to  draw  in  his  money, 
looked  at  the  wizard,  and  said:  "He  really  hasn't  a  full, 
now." 

The  official  thought  he  was  going  to  crawfish,  and  so 
he  jerked  out  a  fifty  dollar  bill  and  slapped  at  on  the 
table.  His  florid  opponent  pushed  the  hundred  dollars 
over  to  the  wizard,  and  said.  "You  hold  the  stakes." 

The  official,  with  a  chuckle,  spread  out  three  nines  and 
two  queens,  and  the  florid  gentleman  spread  out  three 
kings  and  a  pair  of  aces.  The  wizard  pushed  the  hun- 
dred dollars  into  the  winner's  hands,  and  started  to  com- 
ment on  the  remarkable  coincidence  in  getting  two  such 
remarkable  poker  hands  from  a  euchre  deck,  when  the 
official  abruptly  arose  and  left  the  car. 

One  of  the  remaining  gentlemen  suggested  to  Mr. 
Campbell,  "We  shall  be  much  obliged  to  you  if  you  will 
say  nothing  about  this  remarkable  coincidence.  Such 
things  are  so  rare  that  the  thoughtless  might  conclude  that 
we  had  cold-decked  him,  but  it  was  all  on  the  square." 

Mr.  Campbell  replied  that  if  it  was  not  on  the  square, 
the  tuition  was  quite  low  enough  for  one  of  the  official's 
age,  and  especially  for  one  occupying  so  prominent  a  place 
in  such  a  city  as  Chicago. 

At  the  next  stop,  the  florid  and  the  black  gentlemen 
stepped  off  the  train. 

Mr.  Campbell  returned  to  his  seat  in  the  Pullman, 
and  remarked  to  the  land  office  official:  "That  was  a 
pretty  hard  crew  we  struck  down  there." 

The  old  man  made  a  vulgar  mouth  and  turned  his 

THE  PILGRIM.—  2 


18  THE  PILGRIM 

back  on  Mr.  Campbell,  clearly  indicating  that  he  believed 
he  (Mr.  Campbell)  and  the  florid  gentleman,  were  partners 
in  crime. 

It  so  happened,  that  when  Chicago  was  reached,  Mr. 
Campbell  and  the  land  office  official  stopped  at  the  Palmer 
House.  Just  as  the  former  got  comfortably  settled  in  his 
room,  a  light  rap  was  heard  at  the  door.  He  opened  it 
and  there% stood  a  burly,  uniformed  policeman.  Mr.  Camp- 
bell invited  him  in  and  gave  him  the  best  chair.  The 
policeman  inquired:  "Young  man,  have  you  a  gun  about 
you?" 

"Yes,  yes,"  answered  Mr.  Campbell,  "I  am  going 
out  to  survey  Wyoming  and  Colorado,  and  afterwards  do 
the  law  business  of  those  territories.  I  heard  that  the 
Indians  were  bad  there  and  I  purchased  a  pistol  the  day 
before  I  left  Winchester  to  defend  myself  with,  but  I'm 
not  going  to  shoot  any  white  persons."  And  with  that 
he  handed  out  to  the  policeman  a  little  three'inch  barrel, 
22-caliber  revolver. 

The  policeman  laughed,  and  replied: 

"Why,  the  tobacco  growers  in  Connecticut  use  those 
to  shoot  tobacco  worms." 

He  handed  it  back.  "Be  careful,"  he  cautioned, 
"that  you  do  not  allow  that  to  go  off  in  the  hotel.  The 
people  might  think  Chicago  was  being  visited  by  an  earth- 
quake. Now  what  have  you  been  doing  for  the  last  three 
months  and  where  have  you  been?" 

"I've  been  a  law  student  in  Winchester,"  answered 
Mr.  Campbell,  and  he  drew  out  a  new  license  from  the 
Supreme  Court,  showing  its  big  seal,  etc. 

"Uh,  huh,"  answered  the  policeman,  "and  where  are 
you  going  now,  and  what  are  you  going  to  do  ?" 

Mr.  Campbell  then  told  him  all  about  his  plans  to 


AND  THE   PIONEER  19 

survey  Wyoming  and  Color  ado  j  and  his  purpose  to  do  the 
law  business  of  those  two  territories  for  a  number  of 
years  to  come,  and  profert  of  his  compass  and  forty 
law  books  as  additional  evidence.  The  policeman  ques- 
tioned him  all  about  the  euchre  game,  then  asked  to  see 
his  money. 

Mr.  Campbell  pulled  off  his  top-shirt,  drew  his  knife 
and  asked  the  policeman  to  cut  the  stitches  of  an  im- 
provised pocket  sewed  on  the  inside  of  his  undershirt,  in 
which  were  concealed  numerous  twenty  and  ten  dollar  bills, 
but  no  fifty. 

"Young  man,'7  continued  the  policeman,  athe  only 
reason  those  card  players  did  not  fleece  you,  was  because 
they  did  not  know  you  had  these  bills.  You  are  innocent, 
but  you  had  better  push  on  west,  or  Mr.  Crane  may  have 
you  detained  as  a  particeps  criminis  to  his  robbery.'7 

Mr.  Campbell  hurried  to  the  depot  and  took  the  first 
train  for  St.  Louis,  where  he  put  up  at  the  Planters 
Hotel.  There  he  met  Mr.  Bates,  who  was  working  up  an 
excursion  to  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Mr.  Campbell  was 
soon  persuaded  that  between  Denver  and  Cheyenne, 
he  could  get  cattle-driving  to  his  heart's  content,  hence  it 
was  unnecessary  to  go  out  of  his  way  in  search  of  such 
tame  western  pastime,  so  he  joined  the  gathering  excur- 
sion. 

April  3,  1874,  all  kinds  of  persons  were  loaded  into 
the  excursion  cars,  many  of  them  having  never  been  away 
from  their  native  heath.  The  run  between  St.  Louis  and 
Kansas  City  was  made  at  night  and  never  have  a  gang  of 
hungry  wolves  made  more  havoc  among  a  bevy  of  un- 
protected barnyard  fowls,  than  did  the  three  card-monte 
and  legerdemain  fiends  among  those  un travelled  and  un- 
sophisticated passengers.  If  the  train  officers  did  not 


20  THE  PILGRIM 

stand  in  with  the  thieves,  they  certainly  kept  out  of  their 
way.  It  seemed  at  one  time  that  one-half  of  the  excur- 
sionists, though  they  had  paid  their  transportation  to 
Denver  and  return,  would  have  to  stop  off  at  Kansas  City 
because  of  their  penniless  condition.  However,  the  man- 
ager of  the  excursion  went  among  his  fleeced  flock  and 
gathered  their  watches,  revolvers,  jack  knives,  jewelry, 
shaving  outfits,  etc.,  and  persuaded  the  unfleeced  ones  to" 
purchase,  or  make  advances  on  them,  that  all  might  go 
on  to  Denver  and  eat  regularly  on  the  way. 

The  weather  was  dark  and  cloudy,  and,  except  for  the 
broad  expanse  of  plains,  myriads  of  wild  ducks  in  the 
clouds  and  in  every  pool  of  water,  an  occasional  race  be- 
tween the  train  and  some  leanj  knotty  antelope  on  either 
side,  stacks  of  buffalo  heads  here  and  there,  and  bales  of 
buffalo  hides  at  the  important  stations,  they  saw  nothing 
different  from  the  hum-drum  scenes  of  Eastern  life. 

About  the  time  they  crossed  the  Colorado  line,  a 
dozen  Blanket  Indians,  with  their  faces  tattooed,  boarded 
the  smoking-car.  A  twitter  of  excitement  permeated  the 
excursion  car,  until  it  so  stimulated  the  spirits  of  a  num- 
ber of  young  Missouriaiis  that  they  moved  down  to  visit 
with  these  wild  natives  of  the  plains.  One  of  the  Indians 
was  holding  in  his  hand  a  unique  pipe,  which  challenged 
the  curiosity  of  the  excursionists.  They  proceeded  to  ex- 
amine it,  when  by  some  slight  of  hand  performance  it  dis- 
appeared so  mysteriously  that  it  shrouded  the  young  Mis- 
sourians  in  as  complete  confusion  as  Hermann  could  have 
done  in  the  days  of  his  most  clever  legerdemain. 

This  was  too  much  for  the  excited  young  men.  In 
a  moment  they  had  the  Indian  pinioned  to  the  floor,  and 
curious  hands  were  meandering  in  every  direction  under 
the  blanket  clothing,  in  search  of  the  magical  pipe.  The 


AND  THE  PIONEER  21 

fierce  screams  of  the  owner,  brought  the  conductor  and 
the  brakeman  to  the  scene  at  once.  They  seized  these 
husky  transgressors,  and  pushed  them  back. 

"Gentlemen,"  said  the  conductor,  with  a  great  show 
of  dignity,  "I  am  utterly  astonished  that  young  men, 
so  genteel  and  gallant  as  ydu  seem  to  be,  should  condescend 
to  offer  such  indignities  to  this  humble  and  helpless 
woman.  I  blush  with  shame  at  the  sight  of  such  depraved 
American  manhood.  Such  a  thing  is  entirely  beneath  any 
old  resident  of  the  liberty-loving  and  highly  civilized 
West,  and  you  will  be  ashamed  of  such  conduct  as  soon 
as  you  become  accustomed  to  the  majestic  independence  of 
these  towering  mountain  peaks,  and  as  soon  as  the  pure 
mountain  air  destroys  the  blighting  virus  of  the  Missis- 
sippi valley  malaria  in  your  system." 

The  rude  passengers  were  greatly  chagrined  and 
abashed.  They  held  up  their  hands ;  their  gaping  mouths 
were  turned  toward  the  roof  of  the  car ;  they  stared  at  the 
squaw,  then  at  the  conductor;  and  finally  the  tallest  one 
with  great  humiliation  said :  "Please  excuse  us,  Mr.  Con- 
ductor. We  didn't  know  she  was  a  woman.  Indeed  we 
didn't.  There  was  nothing  in  her  dress,  nothing  about  her 
hair,  nothing  about  her  shoes  or  anywhere  else  that  we 
could  see,  that  made  her  look  like1  a  woman.  In  old  Mis- 
souri, a  man  can  tell  a  woman  by  her  hair  and  her  shoes 
and  because  she  is  pertier  than  a  man.  But  these  here 
people  all  looks  alike  and  none  of  'em  looks  like  women. 
We  are  Missourians,  and  while  we  don't  have  any  too 
much  respect  for  men,  no  one  ever  hearn  of  a  Missourian 
bein'  unrespectful  to  any  kind  of  a  woman,  where  he 
knowed  she  was  a  woman." 

He  then  turned  to  the  squaw  and  made  a  most  humble 
apology  to  her,  but  as  she  had  no  knowledge  of  the  Eng- 


22  THE   PILGRIM 

lish  language,  this  superb  gallantry  was  lost  on  her,  unless, 
perchance,  his  contrite  face  and  apologetic  eyes  may  have 
been  properly  interpreted  by  this  crude  daughter  of  nature. 
The  following  morning,  they  reached  Denver,  a 
crude  little  city  of  ten  thousand  persons,  built  upon  the 
naked  plains  at  the  junction  of  Cherry  Creek  and  the 
Platte  River,  with  a  great  dearth  of  trees  and  shrubs, 
but  with  towering  peaks  and  lofty  mountain  ranges  as  an 
attractive  background. 

Mr.  James  Smith  met  them  at  the  depot,  and  with 
great  suavity  made  them  feel  that  they  had  one  friend 
at  least.  As  strange  as  the  incident  may  seem,  this  gen- 
tleman, without  any  previous  arrangement,  piloted  them 
to  the  Planters  Hotel  in  Denver.  They  had  just  left 
the  Planters  Hotel  in  St.  Louis. 

Those  who  had  recently  come  in  advance  of  them, 
gathered  around  and  asked  who  they  were,  what  they 
had  been,  where  they  came  from,  and  what  they  expected 
to  do. 

They  had  hardly  succeeded  in  dusting  their  clothes 
before  Mr.  Smith  and  his  kind  friends  began  instructing 
them  in  the  refinements  of  Rocky  Mountain  life,  not  com- 
mon to  the  Mississippi  Valley. 

"Don't  be  afraid,  boys,"  he  said,  "nothing  will  hurt 
you.  This  country  was  once  pretty  tough,  but  it  is  now 
the  most  moral  part  of  God's  vineyard.  Wy,  when  I 
came  out  in  1859,  I  was  actually  afraid  to  smoke  my 
pipe  on  the  street  for  fear  some  marksman,  not  so  accurate 
as  William  Tell,  might  take  a  shot  at  it."  And  with 
these  introductory  remarks  he  proceeded  to  tell  how  it 
was  a  common  thing  in  those  days  for  the  trappers  and 
hunters  to  amuse  themselves  on  Sunday  evenings  by  shoot- 
ing the  lights  out  in  the  churches ;  that  the  churches  didn't 


AND  THE   PIONEER  23 

mind  the  loss  of  the  lights,  as  they  were  accustomed  to 
darkness,  but  they  were  afraid  of  something  worse. 

"As  a  precautionary  measure/'  he  continued,  "the 
old  minister  down  where  I  used  to  go  to  church,  upon  in- 
forming the  congregation  where  the  next  prayer  meeting 
would  be,  and  when,  and  at  whose  house  the  next  meet- 
ing of  the  Ladies'  Aid  Society  would  gather,  would  close 
his  introductory  remarks  with  this  peroration : 

"  'Now,  boys,  I  want  you  to  be  patient  with  the  choir 
this  evening.  You  will  probably  have  great  provocation, 
as  the  members  have  been  much  too  scattered  and  too  busy 
this  week  to  practice.  However,  I  hope  if  you  hear  any 
harsh  discords,  you  will  not  open  fire  on  them,  as  I  can 
assure  you  that  whatever  happens,  they  will  be  doing  the 
very  best  they  can.  And,  anyway,  it  is  a  voluntary  choir 
and  will  not  get  a  cent  of  your  contributions. ' ' 

At  times,  the  boys  restrained  themselves  under  great 
provocation. 

They  were  told  that  dampness,  malaria,  and  microbes 
were  unknown  there;  that  the  causes  of  sickness  not  ex- 
isting there,  they  had  no  sickness.  One  pioneer  said 
they  actually  had  to  kill  a  man  to  start  a  graveyard,  so 
healthful  was  the  climate.  He  told  them  that  it  was  a 
very '  discouraging  field  for  doctors,  because  they  had  no 
patients,  and  a  very  poor  place  for  preachers,  because  a 
great  doubt  had  been  raised  there  about  the  certainty  of 
death. 

Mr.  Smith  continued  to  instruct  them  in  the  neces- 
saries of  Rocky  Mountain  life.  He  would  stand  erect, 
drink  in  a  full  breath,  swell  himself  out  and  say: 
"If  you  remain  here  three  months,  you  will  be  four  inches 
larger  around  the  chest.  You  must  learn  to  breathe  the 
dry  air,  just  as  you  would  learn  to  use  a  set  of  false 


24  THE  PILGRIM 

teeth;  it  is  so  devaporized  and  devoid  of  oxygen  that  one 
must  take  twice  the  quantity  required  in  humid  climates 
to  secure  the  oxygen  necessary  to  burn  up  the  waste  ma- 
terial in  the  system." 

He  soon  pointed  out  the  towering,  snow-capped  peaks 
and  beautiful  chains  of  mountain  ranges  forming  a  semi- 
circle around  Denver. 

"~Not  being  familiar  with  this  pure  atmosphere,  cloud- 
less skies,  and  perpetual  sunshine,  you  will  be  constantly 
laboring  under  optical  delusions  about  distance,  unless 
I  instruct  you. 

"Those  mountains  seem  to  be  two  miles  distant,  but 
really  they  are  forty  miles  away.  I  would  like  to  give  you 
the  benefit  of  my  pioneer  experience,  because  you  are 
modest  and  seem  anxious  to  learn. 

"Last  week  an  Englishman  stopped  at  the  Planters 
Hotel,  and  in  kindness,  I  sought  to  give  him  the  benefit 
of  my  experience,  but  he  snubbed  me.  '  He  said  he  had 
summered  in  the  Alps  and  had  seen  mountains  that  would 
make  these  look  like  mole  hills.  He  got  up  the  next  morn- 
ing, took  his  cane,  and  asked  me  if  I  would  like  to  walk 
out  to  the  hills  and  back  before  breakfast.  As  I  was 
not  accustomed  to  walking  eighty  miles  before  breakfast, 
I  declined  with  thanks,  but  I  volunteered  no  information. 

"After  walk-ing  vigorously  for  two  hours  directly 
towards  the  mountains,  he  stopped  on  the  bank  of  a  little 
irrigating  ditch,  about  two  feet  wide,  and  in  confusion, 
viewed  the  mountains  that  seemed  no  nearer  him  than 
when  he  started.  He  looked  back  toward  Denver  and  it 
seemed  just  behind  him,  though  he  had  been  walking 
directly  away  from  it  for  two  long  hours.  In  a  complete 
aberration  of  mind,  he  began  sounding  the  little  ditch  with 
his  cane. 


AND  THE   PIONEER  25 

"A  farmer  approached  him  and  asked:  'My  friend, 
what  troubles  you  ?' 

"The  Englishman  answered:  'I  want  to  cross  this 
stream.' 

"  'Well/  replied  the  farmer,  Svhy  don't  you  step 
across  ?' 

"  'Huh/  answered  the  Englishman,  'W'at  do  I  know 
habout  distances  hin  this  bloody  country.  'Ow  do  I  know 
that  this  his  not  ha  river  ha  mile  wide  hand  ha  'alf  ha 
mile  deep  ?'  " 

Everyone  laughed  heartily,  except  a  thirteen  year  old 
boy  from  Gonzales,  Texas,  who  turned  up  his  nose  in 
disgust  and  replied  that  he  had  seen  stranger  things  than 
that  in  Texas.  He  said  that  the  last  summer  he  was 
driving  a  yoke  of  oxen  out  there,  and  it  was  so  all-fired 
hot  that  one  of  them  roasted  to  death ;  and  that  while 
he  was  skinning  him,  a  norther  came  up  and  froze  the 
other  one  to  death. 

Mr.  Smith  broke  in,  saying:  aThis  Englishman's 
experience  is  such  a  true  illustration  of  Rocky  Moun- 
tain distances  that  there  is  nothing  more  to  be  said." 

The  same  pains  were  taken,  the  same  questions  asked, 
the  same  sympathies  expressed,  and  the  same  stories  were 
told  pilgrims  from  day  to  day  as  they  arrived. 

Mr.  Smith,  in  addition  to  being  a  runner  for 
the  Planters  Hotel  was  also  the  agent  for  the  James 
and  Miller  Stage  Line,  running  between  Pueblo  and 
Del  Norte,  the  latter  being  the  gateway  to  the  great  Eldo- 
rado, then  uppermost  in  the  mind  of  all  western  fortune 
seekers. 

The  Territorial  Legislature  had  just  divided  the 
great  San  Juan  mining  region  into  counties,  the  governor 


26  THE  PILGRIM 

had  appointed  the  new  officers,  and  it  required  but  a  small 
effort  to  engage  a  coach  load  for  the  new  gold  fields. 

;  They  reached  Pueblo  on  the  evening  of  April  9  by 
the  way  of  the  D.  &  R.  G.  railroad,  and  put  up  at  the 
Schuyler  Hotel,  which  for  dismal  appearances  and  for- 
lorn surroundings,  had  no  rival.  The  little  town  was 
thoroughly  Mexicanized  in  all  of  its  appearances. 


CHAPTER  II. 

GRATITUDE  PERSONIFIED. 

In  1849  Joshua  Wickham  graduated  from  a  well 
known  Kentucky  College,  and,  like  hundreds  of  other 
boys,  after  getting  his  education,  he  did  not  know  what 
to  do  with  it.  For  many  months  he  stood  upon  the  pin- 
nacle of  doubt,  ready  to'  fall  toward  the  ministry,  med- 
icine, the  law,  or  general  business.  When  a  young, man 
is  in  such  a  quandary  at  this  deciding  point  in  life,  a  dis- 
couraging word  or  hint,  even,  will  often  cause  him  to  re- 
treat. 

In  the  midst  of  these  vexatious  doubts,  the  gold  ex- 
citement in  California  reached  fever  heat.  Mr.  Wickham 
joined  a  band  of  pioneers,  crossed  the  dreary  plains,  and 
for  nine  or  ten  years  enjoyed  the  invigorating  hope  of  the 
placer  diggings  with  some  measure  of  success.  During 
these  years  of  pioneering  his  associations  were  almost  ex- 
clusively with  the  male  miners,  in  fact  he  had  seen  but 
few  women  since  leaving  old  Kentucky.  There  are  no 
men  living  who  adore  women  more  than  the  typical  Ken- 
tuckians,  and  there  are  no  women  on  earth  more  adorable 
than  the  fair  daughters  of  the  blue  grass  state. 

In  1858  it  began  to  dawn  on  Mr.  Wickham  that  he 
was  thirty  years  old  and  was  spending  the  whole  of  the 
prime  of  his  manhood .  away  from  all  of  the  more  en- 
joyable amenities  of  life,  and,  as  he  meditated,  a  creep- 
ing sensation  of  homesickness  encompassed  him.  He  was 
not  satisfied  with  his  savings,  when  coupling  them  with  the 
sacrifices  that  he  had  made,  hence  he  resolved  "to  try 
(27) 


28  THE  PILGRIM 

his  luck77  just  one  more  year,  and  then  return  to  the  land 
of  his  birth. 

Early  in  1859  the  general  rallying  cry  was,  "On  to 
Pike's  Peak.77  It  occurred  to  Mr.  Wickham  that  this  was 
midway  between  the  far  west  and  his  eastern  home.  He 
and  a  half  dozen  companions  agreed  to  "pull  up  stakes,77 
go  to  the  new  Eldorado,  and  "try  their  luck77  until  autumn 
in  the  new  "digging,"  then  leave  the  west  permanently. 
After  many  weeks  of  hardship,  they  struck  camp  at  the 
present  site  of  Manitou  in  Colorado.  From  day  to  day 
they  reconnoitered  the  hills  round  about  in  search  of  gold. 
Early  in  September  Mr.  Wickham  ascended  Pike7s  peak 
and  was  caught  in  one  of  the  most  blinding  snow  storms 
that  he  had  ever  experienced.  He  lost  his  land  marks 
completely,  and  travelled  day  after  day  over  hill  and  dell 
in  search  of  something  that  would  direct  him  toward  the 
camp,  but  in  vain.  One  evening  an  Indian  chief,  Hopping 
Antelope,  and  his  comely  daughter,  Blue  jay,  were  rabbit 
hunting  on  the  banks  of  the  Arkansas  River,  and  they 
stumbled  upon  the  famished  and  demented  Mr.  Wickham, 
lying  helpless  in  a  squaw  bush  thicket.  The  Indian  chief 
took  the  blanket  from  his  shoulders,  laid  it  beside  the 
exhausted  man,  rolled  him  upon  it,  took  hold  of  two 
corners,  his  daughter  picked  up  the  other  two  corners,  and 
they  carried  him  to  Hopping  Antelope7s  tepee,  covered 
him  with  blankets,  gave  him  some  herb  tea,  and  tried  to 
warm  his  blood;  but  he  was  in  the  frigid,  chilly  state 
which  is  a  sure  precursor  of  that  dreadful  disease,  pneu- 
monia. Blue  jay  called  in  the  Big  Medicine  Man,  who 
looked  over  .the  patient  and  said  the  demons  had  gotten 
into  his  head,  and  that  the  deadly  enemies  of  the  Great 
Spirit  had  their  claws  fastened  in  his  "wind  puffers,77 
and  if  he  stayed  in  the  tepee,  where  the  Great  Spirit 


AND  THE  PIONEER  .  29 

could  not  blow  his  fresh,  gentle  breath  on  these  enemies, 
they  would  choke  him  to  death. 

The  Medicine  Man  and  Blue  jay  picked  up  the  sick 
man  and  put  him  in  the  open  air,  carefully  tucking  the 
blankets  all  about  him.  The  Medicine  Man  said  that  the 
Great  Spirit  would  blow  away  the  monsters  that  were 
choking  the  patient  into  insensibility.  He  put  Blue  jay 
to  chanting  some  kind  of  an  intranslatable  incantation, 
which  he  said  would  drive  the  demons  away  as  the  breath 
of  the  Great  Spirit  loosed  their  hold  upon  the  prostrate 
victim. 

For  many  days  and  nights  Blue  jay  hovered  over  the 
patient,  praying  and  chanting  for  his  recovery.  One 
bright  morning  the  sick  man  recognized  his  surroundings 
and  asked  where  he  was  and  how  he  came  to  the  tepee. 
Bhiejay's  whole  being  was  radiant  with  joy,  and  she  gave 
her  weak  patient  to  understand  that  she  had  found  him 
in  hopeless  despair,  and  was  trying  to  nurse  and  pray 
him  back  to  health  and  strength.  She  nursed  him,  fed 
him,  and  led  him  around  the  tepee,  until  he  became  strong 
enough  to  retrace  his  steps  in  search  of  his  comrades. 

Mr.  Wickham  asked  Hopping  Antelope  and  Bluejay 
what  he  owed  them  for  their  kind  care.  The  chief  and 
his  fair  daughter  held  an  excited  colloquy  in  their  native 
tongue,  then  Hopping  Antelope  turned  to  Mr.  Wickham 
and  said  gravely  that  his  daughter  did  not  want  to  give 
him  up,  that  she  had  found  him  in  the  possession  of  the 
enemies  of  the  Great  Spirit,  that  she  had  nursed  and 
nourished  him  and  chanted  away  the  evil  ones,  and  that 
she  thought  he  belonged  to  her.  The  chief  pointed  out 
many  broad  acres  of  land  on  the  Arkansas  Eiver,  and 
said:  "Paleface,  you  take  my  daughter,  Bluejay,  and  be 
the  father  of  her  children,  and  for  every  child  born  you 


30  THE  PILGRIM 

may  take  your  choice  of  640  acres  of  land  between  Ground 
Hog  Mound  and  Kattlesnake  Bluff." 

These  unexpected  offers  and  the  old  man's  speech 
affected  Mr.  Wickham  until  he  was  speechless.  The  debt 
of  gratitude  he  owed  to  this  gentle  maid  of  an  untamed 
nature,  had  deeply  touched  him,  and  when  he  found  that 
no  money  compensation  would  gratify  any  desire  of  hers, 
he  was  pierced  to  the  very  quick.  The  offer  of  land  did 
not  affect  him,  as  the  whole  country  was  unoccupied,  ex- 
cept by  a  few  bands  of  roving  Indians,  and  he  regarded 
it  as  •  worthless,  though  in  a  few  years  it  became  very 
valuable.  But,  ah,  the  romance  of  it,  the  realization  of 
the  debt  of  gratitude  he  owed,  began  to  unnerve  him.  He 
begged  of  Hopping  Antelope  and  Blue  jay  to  let  him  depart 
and  find  his  comrades,  put  their  minds  at  ease,  and  then 
search  for  gold  until  winter,  when  he  would  return  and 
they  would  talk  it  over,  if  she  had  not  forgotten  her  pas- 
sion by  that  time. 

Blue  jay  threw  her  arms  around  his  neck  and  showered 
him  with  her  tears,  and  said  that  if  he  went  alone  he 
would  lose  his  way,  and  the  enemies  of  the  Great  Spirit 
would  again  fasten  their  claws  upon  him,  and  there  would 
be  no  Blue  jay  to  chant  them  away,  and  that  she  would 
lose  her  "Paleface"  forever.  She  cried,  "No,  no,  no,  I 
will  follow  you  to  your  friends ;  I  will  help  you  find  gold ; 
I  will  keep  the  demons  away  until  winter,  then  I  will 
bring  you  back." 

The  affection  of  this  simple  barbarian,  dressed  in 
blankets,  so  touched  the  sturdy,  philosophical  easterner 
that  he  felt  his  powers  of  resistance  crumbling  like  a 
sand  bar  before  the  raging  torrent  of  a  swollen  stream. 
Before  the  next  moon  he  felt  that  he  could  not  live  with- 
out his  red-clay-colored  squaw.  There  was  no  civilized 


AND  THE   PIONEER  31 

woman,  no  white  woman  near  to  compare  her  with,  and, 
isolated  as  he  was  from  civilization  and  the  higher  models 
of  the  sex,  she  began  to  fill  his  soul.  He  was  soon  able 
to  think  of  her  as  angelic.  Wherever  one  is,  if  he  can 
get  the  best  the  country  affords,  he  is  satisfied.  Blue  jay 
was  regarded  as  the  most  beautiful  Indian  maiden  on  the 
plains,  and  there  being  no  women  but  Indian  squaws  with 
whom  to  compare  her,  it  was  not  difficult  to  bring  one  of 
the  sterling  worth  of  Mr.  Wickham  to  her  feet.  In  due 
time  the  wedding  night  came  on.  The  Indian  bucks  took 
Mr.  Wickham  to  the  Arkansas  River,  stripped  him,  took 
pure  white  sand  and  water  and  almost  scoured  the  hide 
from  him,  rolled  him  in  blankets  and  carried  him  to 
Chief  Antelope's  tepee,  put  him  in  a  soft  bed  of  furs, 
anointed  him  with  sweet  smelling  syrups,  knelt  and  jab- 
bered in  their  native  tongues  for  some  minutes,  then 
placed  a  cross  four  feet  high  at  the  foot  of  his  couch  with 
rich  resined  pine  knots  burning  from  its  top. 

The  squaws  in  the  meantime  had  taken  Bluejay  to 
the  river,  and  with  water  and  white  sand  had  scoured  her, 
brought  her  to  the  bridal  tepee,  anointed  her  with  spicy 
syrups,  gently  laid  her  in  Mr.  Wickham/s  arms,  looked 
heavenward  and  in  their  native  tongues  sent  up  toward 
the  Great  Spirit  some  solemn  supplications,  tucked  the 
furs  snugly  around  the  wedded  ones,  withdrew  and  closed 
the  folds  of  the  tepee,  danced  and  chanted  until  morning, 
when  the  bride  and  groom  were,  with  great  deference, 
seated  and  furnished  the  tribal  wedding  breakfast  due  to 
the  chieftain's  daughter. 

In  a  few  weeks  Mr.  Wickham  and  Bluejay  went  to 
Gregory  Gulch  in  search  of  his  comrades  and  gold,  and 
they  were  quite  successful  in  finding  both. 

Mr.  Herman  Mark,  his  wife  and  three  children,  were 


32  THE  PILGRIM 

camped  at  Gushing  Springs,  working  the  Emerald  Isle 
Quartz  Claim,  taking  out  hundreds  of  dollars  a  day,  build- 
ing a  five  thousand  dollar  cottage,  etc.  They  invited  Mr. 
Wickham  and  Bluejay, — yes,  demanded  that  they  camp 
near  by,  as  it  was  within  easy  walking  distance  of  Gregory 
Gulch  where  Mr.  Wickham  intended  to  sluice-mine. 
Every  evening  the  parties  assembled  and  heard  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Mark  state  and  restate  their  plans  when  they 
should  take  out  the  ore  or  sell  the  Emerald  Isle  for 
what  money  they  wanted.  Prospective  purchasers  came 
from  time  to  time  to  look  at  the  mine,  but  Mr.  Mark 
would  not  talk  in  figures  less  than  millions.  He  would 
say,  "What  is  the  use?  We  are  taking  out  $500  a  day 
and  there  is  a  million  in  sight."  When  the  cottage  was 
about  half  finished  the  walls  of  the  mine  began  to  come 
closer  together  at  every  foot  gained  in  depth.  The 
miners  became  uneasy  and  wanted  their  money  weekly. 
You  could  hear  them  say  daily,  "She  is  pinching  out, 
tightening  up;  we  had  better  be  looking  around  for  an- 
other job."  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mark  were  perfectly 
sanguine  that  the  mine  would  turn  out  all  right,  that  the 
pinch  was  only  temporary.  They  never  let  up  on  ex- 
penses for  a  moment,  as  they  expected  to  expose  a  valu- 
able ore  body  at  any  shot.  The  mine  tightened  up  day 
by  day  until  the  walls  came  together,  leaving  but  a  knife 
blade  seam  and  not  a  pound  of  ore.  Mr.  Wickham  sug- 
gested to  the  owners  that  they  had  better  let  up  on  the 
expenses  on  the  house  and  mine  until  they  could  see 
indications  of  value  again.  They  hooted  at  the  idea, 
said  that  the  Emerald  Isle  was  good  for  millions  yet,  and 
that  they  were  perfectly  safe  with  expenditures  on  both 
mine  and  dwelling.  Day  by  day  and  night  by  night 
they  sank  the  mine  without  a  visible  prospect  of  ore,  but 


AND   THE   PIONEER  33 

the  owners  were  not  in  the  least  discouraged.  By  the 
time  the  house  was  done,  all  of  their  accumulations  had 
gone  back  into  the  mine,  into  the  house,  and  into  a  few 
jewels  that  Mrs.  Mark  had  purchased.  They  called 
in  Mr.  Wickham  and  asked  his  advice. 

He  answered,  "JSTo  man  can  see  into  the  ground;  no 
man  knows  whether  the  big  or  the  little,  the  rich  or  the 
poor  end  of  the  mine  is  at  the  top  or  at  the  bottom.  In 
all  probability  the  Emerald  Isle  has  valuable  ore  in  it, 
but  no  one  can  tell  where  it  is,  or  how  valuable  it  is,  or 
what  it  will  cost  to  develop  it.  If  I  were  you,  I  would 
put  it  on  the  market  and  sell  it  and  the  house  and  let 
those  who  are  more  able  take  the  chances." 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mark  began  with  a  storm  of  words, 
"No,  no,  no;  no  one  can  have  the  Emerald  Isle  for  less 
than  a  million.  We  know  that  there  are  millions  of  ore 
in  the  Emerald  Isle  if  you  will  just  sink  to  it,  and  we 
are  not  going  to  give  it  away.77 

"Well,77  replied  Mr.  Wickham,  "Mr.  Mark  might 
prospect  with  his  own  labor  until  satisfied  whether  he 
can  find  additional  ore  chutes.77 

At  nine  o'clock  the  next  morning  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mark 
hastened  off  to  the  bank  at  Golden  for  the  purpose 
of  borrowing  thirty-five  or  forty  thousand  dollars  with 
which  to  further  prospect  the  mine.  They  took  the 
cashier  into  his  private  office  and  told  him  all  about  what 
the  mine  had  done  and  what  it  would  do  with  a  little 
further  development  and  what  they  wanted. 

The  cashier  suggested:  "We  don't  lend  a  dollar  on 
mining  property.  It  is  too  uncertain  for  bank  secur- 
ities.77 

Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mark  started  into  a  whirlwind 
of  talk,  telling  what  the  Emerald  Isle  had  done  and 

THE  PILGRIM.— 3 


34  THE  PILGRIM 

what  it  could  do,  what  it  was  worth,  etc.  The  cashier 
sat  perfectly  quiet  until  they  ran  down.  He  then  in- 
quired : 

"Have  you  any  other  property?" 

They  described  their  new  house  and  the  thousand 
dollars  worth  of  jewelry  that  Mrs.  Mark  had  purchased 
out  of  the  earnings  of  the  mine. 

"Very  well/'  replied  the  cashier,  "the  very  best  that 
I  can  do  with  you  is  to  let  you  have  $2,500  on  your  joint 
note  for  ninety  days  at  five  per  cent  interest  per  month, 
with  a  pledge  of  the  house  and  jewelry  as  security." 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mark  both  answered:  "This  is  quite 
satisfactory.  We  shall  strike  valuable  ore  before  we  ex- 
pend $2,500  and  will  then  have  all  the  money  that  we 
want." 

They  executed  the  papers,'  delivered  the  jewelry, 
hastened  home  and  continued  the  sinking  of  the  Emerald 
Isle,  perfectly  certain  that  they  would  recover  their  ore 
body  in  the  next  few  feet. 

When  the  snows  got  deep  in  the  mountains,  Mr. 
Wickham  and  Bluejay  returned  to  Hopping  Antelope's 
camp  and  before  spring  the  first  child  was  born.  Bluejay 
was  overjoyed,  but  the  father  was  greatly  distressed.  He 
had  hoped  it  would  be  a  boy,  and  Caucasian  in  appearance. 
It  was  not  only  a  girl,  but  had  the  stiff,  raven  black 
hair,  the  dull  red-clay-colored  skin  and  expressionless  eyes, 
and  was  in  every  way  a  typical  Indian  papoose.  Hopping 
Antelope  was  ecstatic  over  his  granddaughter,  and  in- 
sisted that  his  son-in-law  should  select  six  hundred  and 
forty  acres  of  land  for  it  on  the  Arkansas,  build  corrals, 
and  put  a  few  cattle  on  the  place. 

The  disappointed  father  had  gathered  well  during 
the  summer,  and  gladly  bought  one  hundred  cows,  built 


AND  THE  PIONEER  35 

corrals,  etc.,  for  the  little  one.  The  father  was  so  dis- 
appointed in  the  Indian  appearance  in  his  offspring  that 
he  took  no  part  in  naming  it.  Blue  jay  christened  it 
"Clear  Creek,"  after  the  stream  on  which  she  had  camped 
during  the  past  summer  and  where  she  spent  the  hap- 
piest days  of  her  life. 

In  the  early  spring  Mr.  Wickham,  Blue  jay,  and  Clear 
Creek  went  back  to  Gregory  Gulch,  and  they  went  back 
from  year  to  year  'and  prospered  splendidly,  and  year 
by  year  a  new  baby  girl  was  born,  until  they  had  six. 
They  were  named  by  the  mother  after  the  creeks,  brooks, 
springs,  and  birds,  which  most  impressed  her  at  or  about 
the  time  of  the  birth  of  each  child,  and  every  one  was  a 
typical  Indian  papoose,  with  no  appearance  of  white 
blood  in  them. 

This  broke  the  father's  heart.  He  wanted  boys,  and 
traces  of  "white  blood,"  at  least.  He  rubbed  his  head  and 
exclaimed:  "Ah,  what  a  small  part  the  sire  takes  after 
all  in  the  paternity  of  children,  compared  with  the  mother, 
who  nourishes  them  with  her  very  life  blood  through  the 
formative  state,  and  with  the  milk  of  her  bosom  after 
their  birth,  and  how  much  smaller  part  he  enacts  when 
mated  with  crude  and  unrefined  blood  which  refuses  to 
coalese  perfectly  with  his." 

At  the  birth  of  each  child,  Hopping  Antelope  in- 
sisted on  awarding  to  Mr.  Wickham  six  hundred  and  forty 
acres  of  land  in  fulfillment  of  the  prenuptial  agreement. 
The  disappointed  father  as  regularly  added  another  hun- 
dred head  of  cattle  to  the  general  stock  at  every  birth. 
At  the  time  of  the  birth  of  the  last  child  this  land  was 
of  great  value  and  the  herd  had  so  multiplied  that  Mr. 
Wickham  had  to  abandon  mining  and  concentrate  his  at- 
tention on  his  land  and  cattle. 


36  THE  PILGRIM 

About  this  time  the  United  States  government  bought 
the  remainder  of  the  Indian  lands  and  traded  them  lands 
in  the  Indian  Territory.  Early  in  September,  Hopping 
Antelope  turned  his  steps  eastward,  never  again  to  re- 
turn to  the  west. 

Mr.  Wickham  built  a  splendid  stone  residence  and 
a  large  company  store  near  by.  He  furnished  the  resi- 
dence superbly,  rolled  up  the  tepees  and  put  them  away, 
as  he  thought,  for  all  time.  With  great  ecstacy  Mr.  Wick- 
ham  installed  the  wild  mother  of  his  children  in  this 
palatial  domicile  and  expected  her  to  be  supremely  happy. 
What  a  mistake !  This  installation  was  the  beginning .  of 
her  discontent. 

Blue  jay  rebelled,  begged  to  go  back  to  Clear  Creek, 
to  gushing  springs  and  babbling  brooks  with  her  tepee.  She 
said  the  house  and  the  furnishings  made  her  sick.  The 
refinements  and  costly  ornaments  were  a  constant  torture 
to  her.  Ultimately  they  became  intolerable,  and  she  fol- 
lowed off  every  band  of  roving  Indians  that  passed  through 
the  country.  She  loved  her  children  and  fairly  worshiped 
her  "Paleface,"  but  could  not  endure  their  environments, 
their  civilization. 

Mr.  Wickham  spent  thousands  of  dollars  and  months 
of  anxiety  in  recovering  her  from  time  to  time,  but  he 
could  not  comfort  her  until  he  fixed  a  tepee  on  the  banks 
of  the  Arkansas  River.  When  summer  came  she  would 
go  to  Clear  Creek,  White  River,  or  some  other  mountain 
resort,  and  if  someone  did  not  accompany  her,  she  would 
follow  off  the  first  band  of  Indians  that  passed. 

Notwithstanding  Mr.  Wickham's  great  disappoint- 
ment about  the  sex  and  full-blooded  Indian  appearance  of 
his  children,  he  never  ceased  paying  on  the  debt  of  grati- 
tude he  owed  to  Blue  jay,  and  he  used  every  precaution 


AND  THE  PIONEER  39 

to  shield  her  from  suffering  and  exposure.  He  sent  the 
daughters  away  to  school  and  educated  them.  The  young 
men  in  the  store  and  about  the  ranches  married  them 
one  after  another,  as  soon  as  they  became  of  marriageable 


This  greatly  modified  the  chagrin  and  disappoint- 
ment of  the  father.  It  convinced  him  that  he  was  super- 
sensitive  about  their  Indian  appearance.  He  often 
soliloquized  in  this  way:  "These  young  men  have  had 
ample  opportunities  to  compare  my  girls  with  numerous 
pretty,  refined  white  girls  in  the  community  and  they  seem 
to  prefer  mine.  They  do  not  disparage  my  daughters, 
and  why  should  I." 

Soon  after  the  marriage  of  the  last  daughter,  Blue  jay 
died,  and  Mr.  Wickham  was  sorely  grieved.  He  tenderly 
buried  her.  He  then  became  inconsolable  over  the  in- 
feriority of  his  children.  He  felt  that  he  should,  that 
he  must,  devote  the  greater  part  of  his  unfinished  life 
to  the  amelioration  of  the  hard  conditions  of  his  fellows. 
His  environments,  however,  were  making  him  a  dreamer, 
a  pessimist.  He  had  spent  a  long  life  in  teaching  and 
practicing  "The  Holy  Creed  of  Blessed  Optimism."  He 
saw  clearly  the  impending  danger.  He  must  escape  from 
his  present  environment^  and  find  constant  excitement, 
or  break  his  adored  creed.  He  divided  his  property  among 
his  sons-in-law,  giving  each  an  estimated  value  of  $50,000, 
and  prepared  to  return  to  mining.  He  visited  all  of  his 
daughters  and  congratulated  them  on  being  in  such  good 
hands  and  beyond  want,  and  said  there  were  twenty  years 
more  of  good,  hard  work  in  him,  that  his  taste  ran  to 
mining,  and  that  he  would  go  to  the  San  Juan  and  try 
his  fortune  there.  He  said  it  was  better  for  all  that  he 
leave  them  and  their  husbands  alone,  and  so  bade  them 


40  THE  PILGRIM 

all  an  affectionate  good-bye  and  was  off  for  the  San  Juan 
mines,  saying  to  himself,  "Now  I  have  the  choice  of  a 
life  of  unceasing  excitement  or  a  life  in  an  insane 
asylum." 


CHAPTER  III. 

FREEZING  OUT  SELFISHNESS. 

When  the  Denver  passengers  inquired  of  the  hotel 
proprietor  as  to  when  they  might  get  tickets  to  Del  Norte, 
the  price  of  the  tickets,  when  the  stage  would  leave,  etc., 
he  said :  "You  can  get  tickets  at  the  stage  office  and  they 
will  cost  you  just  twenty  cents  a  mile,  but  golly,  boys, 
you  can  just  make  five  dollars  a  day  walking  over,  if  you 
don't  think  all  the  gold  and  silver  might  be  scraped  up 
while  you  are  delayed." 

They  had  debated  whether  they  should  not  walk 
from  Denver  at  $2.50  per  day  rather  than  pay  ten  cents 
a  mile  by  rail  and  some  of  the  prospective  passengers  were 
inclined  to  walk  over  the  range.  The  host  said :  "By  golly, 
boys,  you  ort  ter  see  the  railroad  freight  and  express 
rates;  they  would  make  you  pale.  W'y  a  Jew  peddler 
would  get  rich  packing  his  goods  in  competition  with 
them ;  and  as  to  the  express,  well  I'll  bet  you  the  drinks, 
you  may  go  over  and  ask  the  agent  the  cost  of  sending 
a  bundle,  and  he'll  look  straight  out  of  the  window  while 
he  tells  you;  he'll  be  so  ashamed  of  the  extortion  that  he 
just  can't  look  you  in  the  face." 

Major  Dowell,  a  newspaper  pilgrim,  asked  him  why 
the  press  and  business  men  of  the  town  did  not  call  these 
extortions  to  the  attention  of  the  manager  of  the  road. 

He  replied:  "Now  look  here,  partner,  that  is  just 
what  we  did.  We  got  up  a  petition  and  showed  that 
the  railroads  charged  more  than  the  bull  teams  did  be- 
fore the  roads  were  built,  and  that  the  Mexicans  with 

(41) 


42  THE  PILGRIM 

their  wagons  were  now  successfully  competing  with  the 
railroads,  and  tried  to  convince  the  managers  that  it  would 
benefit  the  roads  to  lower  the  freight  rate  because  it 
would  drive  the  bull  teams  out  of  the  business;  but  the 
managers  'lowed  that  it  was  entirely  beneath  the  high 
aspirations  of  the  railroads  to  drive  any  one  out  of  busi- 
ness, and  were  surprised  that  we  suggested  such  a  thing. 
They  'lowed  it  was  their  policy  to  live  and  to  let  live." 

As  the  passengers  arose  from  the  breakfast  table  at 
the  Schuyler  Hotel,  a  stranger,  dressed  in  a  neat  fitting, 
woolen  lined,  canvas  suit,  a  blue  flannel  shirt,  a  shapely 
pair  of  calf-skin  boots,  a  broad-brimmed  sombrero,  with 
a  yellow  leather  belt  around  his  number  forty  waist,  drove 
up  to  the  porch  in  a  buckboard,  alighted,  and  asked  the 
clerk  if  he  was  in  time  for  the  Del  Norte  coach. 

The  clerk  told  him  that  he  had  plenty  of  time  for 
breakfast  before  the  coach  started. 

There  was  nothing  so  startling  about  the  makeup 
of  the  new-comer's  personal  apparel  as  to  cause  others 
to  give  more  than  a  passing  glance  at  it,  but  even  in  such 
a  casual  observance  one  could  not  avoid  being  attracted 
by  two  firm,  piercing,  deep-set  gray  eyes,  a  well-formed 
and  gracefully  poised  head,  and  a  face  so  illumined  by 
intellectuality  as  to  make  the  possessor  a  shining  mark 
among  a  thousand. 

When  it  was  whispered  that  the  likely  looking 
stranger  was  to  be  a  passenger  on  the  long  stage  ride, 
his  fellow  passengers  gathered  around  the  clerk  and  asked 
about  him.  The  clerk  answered,  "That  is  the  richest, 
the  most  equable-minded,  the  most  intellectual,  and  by 
all  means  the  most  attractive  personality,  that  has  ever 
lived  in  the  Arkansas  valley.  When  a  young  man,  he, 
for  some  unaccountable  reason,  married  Hopping  Ante- 


AND  THE  PIONEER  43 

lope's  daughter,  Princess  Blue  jay,  and  has  had  six 
daughters  by  her,  all  named  for  brooks,  springs,  and  birds, 
and  all  looking  like  full-blooded  Indians.  He  has  always 
claimed  that  he  has  never  seen  a  dark  cloud,  a  blue  day, 
or  a  hopeless  just  cause,  and  has  always  attributed  this 
and  his  marvelous  success  to  what  he  calls  'The  Holy  Creed 
of  Blessed  Optimism.'  He  has  certainly  snatched  so 
many  victories  from  the  very  jaws  of  apparent  defeat, 
has  so  -completely  supplanted  the  Territorial  laws  with 
the  practice  of  his  creed,  that  he  has  dismantled  the 
courts,  and  has  so  directed  the  destinies  of  his  community 
that  his  neighbors  almost  think  him  divine.  The  most 
thoughtful  outsiders  think  he  has  forced  this  spectacular 
regime  and  this  crowded,  excited  life  upon  himself,  to 
keep  his  mind  from  the  barbarous  wife  and  inferior 
children,  that,  like  heavy  mill  stones,  hang  about  his 
neck.  Watch  him  on  this  trip.  Princess  Blue  jay  has 
just  died  and  the  daughters  have  married  the  employees 
about  the  place,  for  a  part  of  his  property,  of  course, 
and  he  is  now  probably  running  from  the  constant  re- 
minders of  his  early  follies.  He  must  be  constantly 
wrought  up  to  the  highest  pitch.  He  will  be,  in  all  prob- 
ability, driving  the  stage  coach  by  the  time  you  reach 
Del  ISTorte ;  but  don't  be  uneasy,  his  acts  have  always  been 
for  the  greatest  good  to  the  greatest  and  most  deserving 
number." 

One  of  the  women  stretched  her  neck  over  the 
shoulders  of  the  men,  and  whispered :  "His  name,  please." 
"Oh,  excuse  me,"  answered  the  clerk,  "his  name  is  Wick- 
ham,  Joshua  Wickham." 

The  old  landlord  slowly  approached  the  coach  pas- 
sengers as  they  were  paying  their  bills  to  the  clerk,  raised 
his  spectacles,  and  commanded :  "I  want  you  all  to  watch 


44  THE  PILGRIM 

that  old  man,"  pointing  toward  the  dining  room,  "watch 
him!  He  has  played  the  false  game  in  this  valley  for 
twenty  years,  and  he  is  playing  a  false  game  now.  He 
is  playing  that  he  is  hurrying  off  to  the  wild  and  woolly 
San  Juan  to  mine,  and  he  don't  want  to  mine,  I  golly 
he  don't  have  to  mine.  He  is  running  away  from  the 
reminders  of  his  early  fads  and  from  his  false  life.  He, 
for  some  reason,  married  a  greasy,  dumb,  thoughtless, 
unsympathetic  Indian  squaw,  and  she  hrought  papooses  as 
rapidly  as  a  Belgian  hare  brings  young,  and  they  are 
all  as  much  like  her  as  clover  leaves  are  like  one  another. 
He  buried  his  squaw-wife  the  other  day  and  divided 
three  hundred  thousand  dollars  among  his  squaw-daugh- 
ters, and,  I  golly,  he  has  plenty  left,  so  he  has.  He  is 
now  staggering  under  his  Indian  burden  and  is  trying 
to  slip  from  under  his  victims,  but  it  will  be  all  in  vain. 
Fifty  thousand  dollars  is  poor  pay  for  that  Indian  blood 
and  everlasting  humiliation  and  disgrace. 

"I  was  the  first  sheriff  in  the  Arkansas  valley  and 
that  fellow  starved  my  office  to  death,  broke  up  the  courts, 
took  the  bread  and  butter  right  out  of  our  mouths,  and 
ruled  the  valley,  as  completely  as  Moses  did  the  children 
of  Israel,  and,  mind  you,  with  a  spurious  sunshine  that 
he  called  The  Holy  Creed  of  Blessed  Optimism.'  He 
persuaded  the  people  that  there  was  no  use  of  crime, 
disputes  with  neighbors,  blue  days,  or  anything  else  but 
just  brotherly  love,  and  this  sunshine.  What  darned  rot! 
I  'low  that  the  death  of  his  squaw  broke  the  machine, 
or  it  manufactures  moonshine,  may  be,  instead  of  sun- 
shine. That  old  man  will  never  find  a  chasm  so  deep, 
a  gorge  so  dark,  or  scenes  so  wild,  that  the  ghosts  of  his 
Indian  wife  and  daughters  will  not  be  astride  of  his 
conscience,  whipping  and  spurring  him  back  to  the  feet 


AND  THE   PIONEER  45 

of  his  ruined  victims.  He  may  hide  his  real  purpose 
a  little  while  if  the  excitement  is  great,  but  as  the  old 
muscles  get  rheumatic,  the  bones  hard  and  limey,  the 
setting  sun  close  to  his  dim,  watery  eyes,  he  will  swell 
up  just  like  a  starved  cow  fills  with  the  gas  from  a  gorge 
of  frozen  alfalfa.  You  watch  him;  there  will  be  an  out- 
crop of  his  remorse  through  the  garrulous  tongue  of  old 
age  before  many  summers,  then  you  let  old  Major  Bently 
know.  He  thinks  I  am  a  bosom  friend  of  his.  I  ought  to 
be,  I  golly,  after  he  starved  my  office  to  death  with  his 
blamed  creed,  and  came  nigh  gittin'  me.  Look  out,  boys, 
he's  apt  to  turn  the  stage  coach  over  just  to  get  to  try 
his  creed  on  your  distress." 

At  this  point  the  local  stage  agent  appeared  and 
soon  convinced  the  passengers  that  to  attempt  to  walk 
over  to  Del  Norte  would  be  a  great  folly,  that  they  were 
liable  to  be  overtaken  by  snow  storms,  or  caught  out  be- 
tween stations  to  starve,  or  be  run  in  by  the  road  agents. 

Major  Dowell,  a  corpulent  old  gentleman  of  about 
fifty  years,  loaded  with  a  bound  copy  of  the  Kansas  Ga- 
zette, which  he  published,  and  a  quart  of  gin,  hurried  to 
the  stage  officer,  and  arranged  with  the  driver  for  the  out- 
side seat.  ~No  doubt  the  bottle  of  gin  not  only  brought 
a  quick,  favorable  decision,  but  kept  the  driver  from  in- 
forming our  aged  pilgrim  that  an  outside  seat  was  a 
despicable  choice  during  that  season  of  the  year. 

Major  Dowell  soon  returned  to  the  hotel  with  a  smile 
of  success  on  his  countenance.  He  sidled  up  to  one  pas- 
senger after  another,  nudged  him  in  the  ribs,  and  said: 
"I  was  smarter  than  you,  for  I  have  engaged  the  seat  out- 
side with  the  driver  where  I  can  see  the  country." 

"Well,    Major    Dowell,    will    you    not    occasionally 


46  THE  PILGRIM 

change  seats  with  us,  that  the  monotony  may  be  broken 
for  all  of  us  on  this  long  trip  ?"  asked  Mr.  Wickham. 

Major  Dowell  looked  down  upon  him  with  an  insipid 
smile,  and,  holding  out  the  bound  copy  of  the  Gazette, 
replied:  "Well,  you  know,  I  am  a  newspaper  man, 
and  I  want  to  write  up  everything  of  interest  that  I 
can  see.  It  don't  make  any  difference  with  you  fellows 
whether  you  see  anything  or  not  You  know  that  I  would 
be  glad  to  change  with  you,  but  I  want  to  use  the  in- 
formation for  the  benefit  of  the  public.  W'y,  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  people  will  read  what  I  say  about  this 
trip." 

Mr.  Wickham  called  the  other  prospective  passen- 
gers about  him  and  said :  "Gentlemen,  I  have  been  in  the 
Hocky  Mountains  off  and  on  for  twenty  years,  and  it  will 
be  a  miracle  if  we  cross  the  range  this  season  of  the 
year  without  encountering  a  severe  snow  storm.  The 
pioneer  always  shares  every  comfort  and  every  hardship 
with  his  fellows,  everything  else  being  equal,  but  here 
is  a  bloated  pilgrim,  loaded  down  with  the  narrow  and 
bigoted  selfishness  so  common  to  those  who  always  live 
among  their  kindred  and  families,  who  deserves  chastise- 
ment. Now,  sirs,  I  move  that  any  one  of  this  party  who 
may,  for  however  short  a  space  of  time,  change  seats  with 
him  between  Pueblo  and  Del  Norte  be  drummed  out 
of  the  party."  He  submitted  the  question  to  a  vote 
and  everyone  voted  "aye." 

Mr.  Wickham  thanked  the  party  for  the  unanimous 
vote,  and  guaranteed  that  our  outside  passenger  would, 
in  the  next  three  days,  get  more  color  in  his  face  and  nose 
from  the  angry  elements  than  he  could  get  from  a  whole 
barrel  of  Holland  gin. 

At  8  A.  M.  the  coach  was  loaded  to  the  limit  on  the 


AND  THE  PIONEER  47 

inside,  and  Major  Dowell  and  the  driver  occupied  the  out- 
side. Everything  moved  along  very  harmoniously  dur- 
ing the  forenoon,  as  they  were  in  the  lowlands  skirting 
the  Arkansas  River.  About  the  middle  of  the  afternoon 
one  of  the  most  severe  and  most  blinding  snow  storms  that 
ever  visited  that  region  came  mercilessly  down  upon  them. 
The  wind  raged  at  a  velocity  of  fifty  miles  an  hour,  and 
sent  the  sharp,  cutting  snow  into  the  faces  and  eyes  of  the 
horses,  driver,  and  outside  passenger,  making  their  lot 
almost  intolerable. 

Every  eleven  miles  they  reached  a  stage  station  and 
changed  horses,  as  it  was  the  custom  to  travel  day  and 
night  until  the  trip  was  finished. 

After  they  had  been  in  the  storm  for  an  hour  they 
reached  a  stage  station. 

While  the  stock  tender  was  loosing  the  horses  and 
putting  in  fresh  ones,  Major  Dowell  climbed  down  from  the 
coach  and  said  to  the  inside  passengers,  "I  am  almost 
frozen.  It  is  very  hard  on  one  to  sit  out  here  constantly 
in  this  raging  storm.  Will  not  one  of  you  change  places 
with  me  for  a  little  while  ?" 

"Ah,"  replied  Mr.  Wickham,  abut  you  will  get  to  see 
the  country.  Think  of  what  the  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
readers  of  the  Gazette  would  lose,  should  you  be  penned 
up  in  this  curtained  coach  where  you  could  not  see  the 
tall  quaking  aspen  bend  its  graceful  form  to  and  fro  as 
these  majestic  canons  inhale  and  exhale  the  gentle  zephyrs. 
How  could  you  describe  vividly,  or  put  life  into  the  grace- 
ful arms  of  Boreas  as  he  artfully  lassoes  these  beautiful 
horses  with  his  lariats  of  twisted  snow,  without  an  actual 
vision  of  the  scene?  Last,  but  not  least,  how  could  you 
ever  verify  your  oft  repeated  assertion  to  the  inside  pas- 
sengers that  you  are  smarter  than  they  in  obtaining  the 


48  THE  PILGRIM 

outside  seat,  that  you  might  see  the  beautiful  country, 
and  describe  it  in  the  interest  of  the  public,  and  that  this 
was  all  for  the  public  good,  unless  you  really  sacrifice  your 
personal  comfort  for  the  public  weal  ?" 

At  this  point  the  driver  exclaimed,  "All  aboard,"  and 
in  a  few  moments  the  coach  was  plodding  along  in  the 
deep  snow  drifts  toward  the  Eastern  base  of  the  great 
Sangre  de  Cristo  range. 

Mr.  Campbell  twisted  and  groaned,  coughed,  and  ex- 
pectorated hlv)od  frequently.  Mr.  Wickham  asked  him 
about  his  trouble.  He.  answered  that  he  had  chronic 
bronchitis,  and  afternoon  fevers  daily.  Mr.  Wickham  said, 
"Get  out  and  walk  up  this  hill,  keep  your  mouth  closed 
and  breathe  deeply  of  the  fresh  air."  Mr.  Campbell  re- 
plied that  he  dare  not  venture  out  in  cold  air. 

Mr.  Wickham  continued,  "That  is  your  trouble.  You 
are  breathing  this  dead,  poisonous  air.  It  is  the  dead  air 
that  depresses  and  the  fresh  air  that  invigorates.  If  you 
will  follow  my  advice,  I  will  guarantee  to  cure  ;you  on 
fresh  air,  wholesome  exercise,  and  cheerful  thoughts." 

Mr.  Campbell  answered,  "I  am  willing  to  try  any- 
thing. I  prefer  death  to  what  I  have  been  the  last  eighteen 
months."  Very  well,"  suggested  the  pioneer,  "I  am 
your  physician.  Now  remember  that  you  must  follow  in- 
structions. I  order  you  to  alight,  walk  vigorously  up  this 
hill,  with  mouth  closed  and  shoulders  thrown  back,  draw- 
ing great  drafts  of  air  to  the  very  bottom  of  your  lung 
cells,  and  to  permit  no  shadow  of  fear  or  doubt  to  cross 
your  mind." 

Mr.  Campbell  got  out  to  walk,  and  while  passing 
some  willows  near  a  spring,  found  that  the  storm  had 
driven  many  rabbits  to  shelter  there.  He  drew  a  small 
22-caliber  revolver  and  killed  several  of  them.  In  fact 


AND  THE  PIONEER  49 

they  had  been  so  frightened  and  chilled  by  the  storm  that 
one  could  almost  pick  them  up  in  his*  hands.  The  smell 
of  the  gun-powder  and  the  sound  of  the  musketry  had 
the  same  stimulating  effect  on  Major  Dowell  that  the  sound 
of  the  bugle  has  on  the  trained  cavalry  horse.  He,  too,  had 
a  revolver,  but  it  was  in  his  valise,  stored  away  in  the 
boot  of  the  coach.  Not  even  the  potent  influence  of  the 
bottle  of  gin  could  induce  the  driver  to  stop  and  exhume 
this  deadly  weapon  that  the  old  warrior  might  join  in 
the  chase.  Late  at  night  they  reached  Badito  for  supper, 
and  there  learned  that  the  snow  was  so  deep  on  the  range 
that  it  would  be  impassable  that  night  or  the  next  day. 

Badito  was  a  cold,  barren  little  place,  with  a  general 
store,  livery  stable,  blacksmith  shop,  and  saloon  with  a 
hotel  attachment.  When  supper  was  ready  there  was  no 
bell  or  gong  sounded,  but  the  proprietor  got  upon  a  dry 
goods  box  in  front  of  his  place,  and  cried  out  at  the  top  of 
his  voice,  "Come  to  your  grub,  you  hungry  devils." 

Everyone  expecting  to  eat  there  ran  with  all  his  might 
for  the  table,  as  there  were  more  persons  than  plates; 
however,  they  were  all  well  fed  and  fairly  well  bedded. 

Before  they  retired  Mr.  Wickham  raised  the  window 
as  high  as  it  would  go.  Mr.  Campbell  suggested,  "I  do 
not  wish  to  discommode  you,  Mr.  Wickham,  but  a  win- 
dow up  like  that  would  kill  me.  I  have  not  slept  with  a 
door  or  window  open  for  a  year  and  a  half.  I  can't  stand 
the  night  air."  "That  is  what  has  been  lowering  your 
vitality,  increasing  your  cough,  and  encouraging  the  inva- 
sion of  the  army  of  deadly  microbes  on  your  weakened 
system,"  replied  Mr.  Wickham.  "I  am  the  doctor  and 
you  are  the  patient.  I  command  you  to  think  that  this 
will  aid  you,  and  tomorrow  I  shall  ask  you  to  explain  the 
difference  between  this  fresh,  pure  night  air,  and  the 

THE  PILGRIM.— 4 


50  THE   PILGRIM 

poisonous  carbonic  acid  that  you  have  been  rebreathing 
into  your  depressed  lungs  for  the  past  eighteen  months."17 

When  Mr.  Campbell  arose  in  the  morning,  Mr.  Wick- 
ham  got  a  bowl  of  cold  water  and  made  him  bathe  from 
head  to  heels,  then  go  through  a  complete  course  of 
muscle  and  joint  exercises.  Mr.  Campbell  said,  "If  I 
had  not  been  so  refreshed  from  the  brisk,  cool  air  that 
poured  into  the  room  all  night,  and  if  your  prescribed 
exercise  had  not  so  rejuvenated  me,  I  could  not  think  of 
such  a  severe  ordeal."  When  the  bath  and  exercises  were 
over  and  his  toilet  was  finished,  Mr.  Wickham  raised  the 
window  facing  the  east  and  required  him  to  stand  there 
ten  minutes  drawing  in  and  exhaling  the  fresh  air  to  the 
very  bottom  of  his  lung  cells.  Mr.  Campbell  persisted  in 
walking,  and  boasting  that  he  hadn't  felt  so  well  in  the 
morning  in  eighteen  months,  declared  that  he  verily  be- 
lieved that  the  pioneer  had  found  the  long  sought 
elixir  of  life,  and  that  he  felt  sure  of  recovery  under 
his  treatment.  The  pioneer  answered,  "That  spirit, 
if  you  will  hold  on  to  it,  will  greatly  aid  me.  The  great- 
est medicine  known  to  the  race  is  buoyant,  cheerful,  and 
hopeful  thought.  The  embodiment  of  the  greatest  law  of 
health  is  bound  up  in  the  terse  sentence,  'As  a  man  think- 
eth,  so  is  he.' ' 

The  morning  sun  came  out  bright  and  sparkling, 
but  the  range  was  closed.  A  night's  sleep  and  two  hearty 
meals  had  not  allayed  the  excitement  of  Major  Do  well, 
caused  by  the  smell  of  gun-powder  the  day  before.  Soon  af- 
ter breakfast  he  brought  out  an  enormous,  rust-eaten,  navy 
revolver  that  certainly  had  not  been  used  since  the  war. 
He  carefully  loaded  it  and  hunted  up  Mr.  Campbell,  say- 
ing: 

"I'll  bet  you  the  drinks  I  can  beat  you  shooting." 


AND  THE   PIONEER  51 

A  half  dozen  of  the  passengers  cried  out  at  once, 
"HI  take  the  bet" 

They  took  a  dry  goods  box  and  the  passengers  with 
the  towns-people  adjourned  to  the  back  of  the  store  to 
witness  the  match. 

Mr.  Campbell  put  the  box,  with  the  top  of  a  tin  can 
tacked  to  it  as  a  bull's  eye,  thirty  paces  distant. 

Major  Dowell  looking  at  this  near  target  and  then  at 
Mr.  Campbell  with  the  utmost  contempt,  sneered: 

"Pshaw,  I'm  not  going  to  shoot  at  that ;  my  revolver 
will  shoot  three-quarters  of  a  mile." 

He  looked  across  a  valley  to  a  large  spruce  forest  and 
suggested : 

"Let's  shoot  the  top  off  one  of  those  big  spruce  trees." 

An  inhabitant  replied : 

"I'll  bet  you  the  drinks  you  can't  hit  the  forest." 

Major  Dowell  immediately  took  the  bet,  and  they  ap- 
pointed judges  who  were  to  award  the  stakes  to  Major 
Dowell  if  they  could  discover  any  falling  limbs,  and  to  his 
adversary  if  they  saw  no- evidence  of  a  wound  in  the  tim- 
ber. 

Major  Dowell  took  his  revolver  in  both  hands  and 
leveled  it  at  the  tops  of  these  trees,  which  he  afterwards 
learned  were  seven  miles  away ;  but  when  he  pulled  the  trig- 
ger, instead  of  shooting  only  once  as  he  expected,  it  kept  go- 
ing until  six  shots  were  fired.  He  deliberately  turned  the 
smoking  muzzle  up  and  looked  into  it,  seemingly  to  see 
if  it  had  really  quit  shooting,  then  as  deliberately  dropped 
it  to  the  ground,  took  hold  of  the  mangled  thumb  of  his 
right  hand  with  his  left,  and  raised  it  to  his  side,  then 
gravely  and  with  a  military  bearing,  looked  at  the  crowd 
and  asked: 


52  THE  PILGRIM 

"What  do  you  suppose  was  the  matter  with  that  re- 
volver ?  I  would  not  give  $2.50  for  it." 

Some  one  remarked  that  no  one  cared  to  buy. 

He  very  deliberately  picked  up  his  thumb  again,  and 
said: 

"It  has  really  ruined  my  thumb."  In  fact  the 
lead  and  powder  from  the  cylinder  had  torn  the  flesh 
from  nail  to  wrist. 

He  picked  up  the  revolver,  took  it  to  a  store,  and 
traded  it  for  a  cake  of  camphor  ice,  and  the  last  time 
the  passengers  saw  him  his  thumb  was  still  in  a  sling. 

He  lost  the  wager,  but  the  stakes  were  not  tendered 
or  demanded. 

The  following  morning  the  officers  of  the  stage  com- 
pany proposed  that  if  the  passengers  would  leave  their 
baggage  and  walk  across  the  range  that  they  had  paid 
twenty  cents  a  mile  to  ride  over,  the  stage  company  would 
put  the  mail  on  a  buckboard  and  get  it  over. 

All  hands  readily  agreed,  and  for  the  first  time  all 
passengers  were  on  a  complete  equality. 

Two  women  were  in  the  party.  One,  the  wife  of 
Judge  Tucker  of  Antelope  Park,  and  the  other,  the  wife  of 
Mr.  Warner,  who  had  with  her  a  six  months'  old  baby. 

Mr.  Warner  was  about  fifty  years  old  and  as  deaf  as  a 
post.  He  used  a  writing  pad  in  communicating  with 
others.  The  drenched  eyes  of  Mrs.  Warner  bespoke  a  fam- 
ily jar.  She  stepped  into  the  room  where  the  passengers 
were  packing,  wringing  her  hands  and  crying,  "My  baby, 
my  poor  baby,  this  trip  will  kill  you,  if  it  does  not  kill 
both  of  us." 

Mr.  Wickham  looked  up  and  said,  "My  dear  madam, 
it  occurs  to  me  that  prudence  and  humanity  demand  that 
you  should  stay  here  or  return  to  Pueblo  until  the  range 


AND  THE  PIONEER  53 

opens.  It's  a  trying  undertaking  for  a  husky  man  to 
cross  there  today." 

She  wrung  her  hands  and  replied,  "I  must,  I  must, 
I  must,  if  it  kills  my  child,  because  he  (pointing  toward 
the  room  of  Mr.  Warner)  wills  it.  I  informed  him  that  I 
should  take  my  child  back  to  Pueblo,  and  remain  until  the 
range  opened,  and  then  cross."  He  said,  "Very  well, 
if  you  have  the  means,  but  I  shall  not  give  you  a  cent  to 
get  to  or  from  Pueblo  and  if  you  are  not  with  me,  you 
will  have  to  furnish  yourself.7  "What  am  I  but  a  de- 
pendent, a  mendicant  ?  I  am  not  a  free  agent.  I  do  not 
own  my  child,  myself,  or  the  means  of  subsistence. 
He  carries  the  keys  to  the  commissary  and  is  master;  I 
am  the  slave,  and  I  must  go  if  it  kills  my  child.  Talk 
about  the  dignity  of  womanhood.  There  is  neither  dignity 
nor  womanhood  without  a  purse  attachment." 

Mr.  Wickham  scratched  his  head  and  replied,  "That 
is  a  kind  of  an  eye-opener.  I  gave  the  purse  strings  of 
my  endowments  to  my  sons-in-law,  because  of  the  great 
preponderance  of  Indian  blood  in  my  daughters.  Sup- 
pose my  sons-in-law  want  to  enslave  or  abandon  my 
daughters.  I  am  afraid  I  took  desperate  chances.  :  What 
a  mess  of  trouble  that  debt  of  gratitude  led  me  into !  I 
should  have  known  that  if  you  pour  a  barrel  of  refined 
oil  and  a  barrel  of  crude  oil  together  it  will  all  be  crude 
oil.  I  should  have  expected  that  the  mixing  of  refined 
and  crude  blood  would  make  the  whole  crude  blood;  but 
the  die  is  cast,  I  must  make  the  best  of  it." 

Mr.  Warner  came  wabbling  in  with  his  baby  in  his 
arms,  caressingly  spanking  it.  His  inability  to  hear  seemed 
to  be  a  very  fortunate  defect  for  the  time  being,  for  his 
twenty  year  old  wife  was  hurling  at  his  unprotected  head 
all  the  vile  anathemas  that  could  be  wrung  from  a  troubled 


64  THE  PILGRIM 

and  embittered  soul  for  daring  to  bring  a  mother  and  child 
into  a  merciless  rendezvous  of  elements  so  hazardous  to 
human  life.  He  gently  pressed  the  baby  to  his  bosom, 
offered  his  wife  all  kinds  of  assistance,  and  looked  into 
her  eyes  with  an  approving  and  cheerful  expression,  evr- 
.dently  thinking  she  was  pouring  out  the  vials  of  her 
wrath  on  that  great  octopus,  the  stage  company. 

How  sweet  the  delusion !  How  fortunate  that  he  was 
not  versed  in  the  modern  lip  action  language  so  well  un- 
derstood by  many  of  the  deaf. 

They  soon  passed  the  summit  of  the  divide,  stayed 
over  night,  and  the  next  morning  hitched  to  the  coach  and 
loaded  in  and  outside  the  same  as  in  the  beginning  of  the 
trip,  and  had  a-  very  successful  day.  As  the  shades  of 
evening  came  upon  them  the  north  wind  swept  across  the 
great  San  Luis  valley,  making  the  air  very  cold  and  dis- 
agreeable. The  driver  leaned  back  and  opened  the  cur- 
tain of  the  window  of  the  coach  with  the  staff  of  his  whip, 
and  in  a  low  tone  suggested  to  Mr.  Wickham : 

"It  is  very  hard  on  this  old  man  to  sit  out  here  in 
this  cold  night  air. 

"Yes,"  replied  Mr.  Wickham,  "but  he  will  get  to  see 
the  country,  and  what  little  he  can't  see  he  can  feel,  that 
he  may  properly  write  it  up  for  the  entertainment  of  the 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  readers  of  the  Gazette." 

The  coach  soon  reached  the  supper  station  at  the  Big 
Bend  of  the  Eio  Grande  River.  When  Major  Dowell  moped 
into  the  lighted  dining-room  with  one  hand  in  a  sling, 
practically  snow-blind,  his  face  blistered  from  the  ef- 
fects of  the  wind  and  cold  and  from  the  reflections  of 
the  sun  from  the  snow,  much  sympathy  was  expressed  for 
him  by  the  inside  passengers,  as  well  as  by  the  others 
present. 


AND  THE   PIONEER  55 

The  hurried  meal  was  soon  dispatched,  the  coach 
loaded  as  before,  and  the  horses  were  off  on  a  swinging 
trot  up  the  Rio  Grande. 

A  mild  rebellion  soon  began  to  show  itself  against  the 
determination  of  Mr.  Wickham  to  keep  Major  Dowell  fac- 
ing the  angry  elements  to  the  end  of  the  journey. 

Mr.  Wickham  straightened  himself  up  and  explained : 

"My  fellow  travelers,  this  may,  at  first  blush,  seem 
a  severe  penalty  for  the  offense  committed,  but  retribu- 
tion is  visited  on  transgressors  by  natural  and  by  human 
laws  for  the  purpose  of  removing  the  causes  of  the 
transgression.  The  chief  object  is  to  repair  the  defect  in 
the  mental  and  moral  machinery  that  permitted  the  evil 
thought  to  pass  the  monitor  of  inner  consciousness.  The 
penalty  serves  as  a  kind  of  additional  safeguard  or  sen- 
tinel during  the  period  of  convalescence  or  repair.  Such 
penalties  are  not  intended  so  much  as  a  punishment  for 
offenses  committed  as  they  are  to  deter  perpetrators  from 
repeating  the  offense.  IsTow  let  us  do  our  full  duty 
to  him  and  to  the  public.  Let  us  coolly  ask  ourselves, 
'Who  is  this  pilgrim  that  claims  our  sympathy?7  While 
I  never  saw  him  until  two  days  ago,  I'll  wager  my 
right  arm  that  when  a  boy  he  would  push  his  little  sister 
or  smaller  brother  out  of  the  little  arm  chair  and  sneak- 
ingly  push  himself  down  into  it;  that  he  always  made 
the  other  children  divide  everything  they  had  with  him 
and  when  he  had  anything  that  he  might  divide,  like 
stingy  Peter,  he  went  out  behind  the  house  and  enjoyed 
it  all  by  himself.  When  a  man,  he  always  crowded  into 
the  best  rocking  chair  and  made  his  mother  and  sisters 
sit  upon  the  stools;  when,  at  the  table,  there  was  but  a 
small  portion  of  any  choice  article,  he  appropriated  it  to 
himself;  that  he  made  all  of  his  family  and  kindred 


56  THE  PILGRIM 

wait  upon  him  and  he  appropriated  and  used  their,  prop- 
erty as  his  own,  but  never  reciprocated  in  any  way.  He 
has  brought  every  evidence  of  these  most  despicable  traits 
with  him  to  this  common  Western  meeting  ground  of 
the  sons  and  daughters  of  every  land  and  clime.  Here 
we  read  no  pedigree,  we  do  not  care  what  a  man  has 
done  or  be^n,  or  what  his  ancestors  have  done  or  been, 
if  he  has  mended  his  ways.  We  only  concern  ourselves 
with  the  present  and  the  future.  We  say,  'What  are 
you,  and  what  can  you  do  V  Here  we  meet,  without  caste 
or  ancestral  influence,  as  strangers  and  on  an  absolute 
equality.  We  have  nothing  but  the  merit  system  here. 

"Did  you  not  detect  a  change  in  his  demeanor  at 
supper?  Did  you  not  see  that  the  medicine  is  acting? 
Desperate  diseases  require  desperate  remedies.  This  pun- 
ishment has  not  been  agreeable,  within  itself,  to  any  of 
us.  It  is  only  the  laudable  end  that  justifies  the  harsh 
means.  We  have  certainly  frozen  out  of  him  much 
of  the  despised  disease  of  selfishness.  If  fifty  years  from 
today  he  should  attempt  to  seek  another"  such  selfish  ad- 
vantage of  his  fellows,  his  ordeal  would  rise  up  like 
Banquo's  ghost,  and  frown  him  back.  If  his  short  resi- 
dence would  permit,  I  should  not  hesitate  to  recommend 
him  now  as  cleansed  and  purified  and  well  prepared  to 
enter  the  exalted  domain  of  the  pioneer,  whose  immortal 
motto  has  ever  been,  other  things  being  equal,  'Always 
share  equally  the  miseries  as  well  as  the  joys  of  your 
fellows/  " 

At  this  time  the  lights  of  Del  Norte  flashed  upon 
them  and  the  driver  was  pulling  up  at  the  Grand  Central 
Hotel  for  the  night.  Mr.  Campbell  looking  up,  replied : 

"Sir,  before  we  part,  in  behalf  of  all  these  passen- 
gers, I  wish  to  extend  to  you  our  sincere  regrets  that  we 


AND  THE  PIONEER  57 

permitted  our  sympathies,  for  even  a  few  moments,  to 
drift  our  minds  and  our  full  appreciation  from  the  most 
beneficient  purpose  you  were  so  grandly  working  out. 
Our  excuse  is  our  lack  of  experience.  It  has  been  an 
unbroken  revelation  to  us  throughout  this  eventful  trip, 
to  observe  the  natural  application  of  the  many  wise  and 
just  precepts  and  examples  wrought  out  through  the  close 
contact  of  the  adventurous  pathfinders  on  this  expansive 
Western  domain,  with  the  immutable  laws  of  nature.  We 
can  scent  in  their  every  fibre  the  healthful  aroma  of  nat- 
ural justice.  The  great  hardships  attending  this  rugged 
journey  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  have  been  prac- 
tically unobserved  by  the  inside  passengers,  so  charmed 
were  they  in  viewing  the  natural  and  true  character  of  the 
pioneer,  unfolding  itself  like  a  grand  and  unbroken  epic." 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  SEAKED  CONSCIENCE  OF  GREED. 

April  14,  1874,  the  Pilgrim  and  the  Pioneer  arose  to 
find  themselves  in  one  of  the  most  valuable  and  pictur- 
esque spots  on  the  Western  domain.  The  great  San  Luis 
valley,  forty  by  one  hundred  miles,  almost  as  level  as  a 
billiard  table  and  very  fertile  when  awakened  by  the 
magic  touch  of  water,  lay  spread  out  before  them  with  the 
beautiful  Rio  Grande  River  emerging  from  the  canon 
above  and  threading  its  way  through  the  center  of  the 
valley,  furnishing  convenient  means  of  irrigation,  and  a 
sportsman's  paradise;  for  it  was  literally  swelling  with 
fish  and  covered  with  wild  fowls. 

The  Sari  Luis  valley  is  fenced  in  by  the  Sangre  de 
Cristo  and  other  lofty  mountain  ranges  among  the  most 
majestic  and  gorgeous  found  in  the  great  Rocky  Mountain 
system. 

Del  2s"orte  is  very  cosily  nestled  in  between  the  river 
and  a  towering  peak  on  the  south  resembling  Lookout 
Mountain;  it  is  a  beautiful,  sunny,  and  protected  nook, 
and  a  nice  town. 

The  main  valley  was  not  inhabited  except  by  a  few 
bands  of  Mexicans  who  had  been  there  for  ages,  and  an 
occasional  man  who  had  dropped  out  of  the  army  or  out 
of  some  surveying  or  exploring  party,  working  for  the 
government,  with  a  few  recent  settlers  who  had  located  on 
the  small  streams  in  the  low  bottoms  near  the  river  where 
irrigation  is  inexpensive.  But  the  town  was  a  living,  mov- 
ing mass  of  prospectors,  miners,  business  and  professicnni 

(59) 


60  THE  PILGRIM 

men,  with  the  usual  supply  of  camp  followers,  thugs, 
gamblers,  and  bunco  steerers. 

Mr.  Wickham  kept  up  his  fresh  air,  cold  water,  vigor- 
ous exercise,  and  strong,  cheerful  thought  treatment,  and 
his  patient  continued  to  improve. 

Mr.  Campbell  and  Mr.  Wickham  visited  Messrs.  An- 
gier  brothers,  Yale  graduates,  with,  the  sign  hoisted  over 
their  door,  "Civil  Engineers  and  United  States  Deputy 
Mineral  Surveyors."  Mr.  Wickham  told  them  that  Mr. 
Campbell  was  a  surveyor  and  expected  to  follow  the  pro- 
fession for  a  few  years  at  least. 

Mr.  James  Angier  asked  Mr.  Campbell  if  he  should 
make  surface  or  underground  work  a  specialty.  "Oh !"  said 
Mr.  Campbell,  "I  am  not  a  miner,  but  a  surveyor."  Mr. 
Angier  replied,  "You  do  not  understand  me.  The  most  ab- 
struse, interesting  and  profitable  work  here  is  underground 
surveys  to  determine  the  dips,  angles,  variation,  courses, 
etc.,  of  veins.  I  did  not  know  but  you  intended  engaging 
in  this  difficult  line." 

At  this  point  Mr.  Morice  Stockman,  a  graduate  from 
Freiburg,  Germany,  stepped  in  with  a  gleaming  new  solar 
transit  that  he  had  just  purchased  for  $175,  and  was  intro- 
duced to  Mr.  Campbell  as  a  new  engineer. 

"Ah!"  said  Mr.  Stockman,  "we  welcome  you  as  a 
member  of  the  profession." 

Mr.  Campbell  replied,  "I  really  supposed  you  were  a 
photographer  from  your  carrying  that  camera,"  and 
stooped  and  peeped  through  the  glasses  of  the  transit. 

The  engineers  laughed  and  thought  Mr.  Campbell 
quite  a  wit,  but  Mr.  Wickham  looked  embarrassed.  Mr. 
Angier  inquired,  "What  kind  of  an  instrument  do  you 
use  ?"  "Oh !"  answered  Mr.  Campbell,  "I  have  a  fine  com- 
pass that  Prof.  Hampton  has  used  ever  since  he  came  out 


AND  THE   PIONEER  61 

of  Columbia  College  thirty  years  ago.  He  did  not  want  to 
sell  it,  but  I  was  used  to  it  and  while  I  could  have  gotten 
a  new  one  for  $5,  with  a  new  hundred-foot  tape  line,  I 
offered  him  six  dollars  for  his  compass  and  old  tape  line 
and  he  snapped  me  up  in  a  minute."  Mr.  Stockman  replied, 
"The  government  will  not  permit  you  to  use  such  an  in- 
strument or  line."  "What  do  they  make  you  use?"  in- 
quired Mr.  Campbell.  "A  transit  like  this  and  a  steel 
line,"  answered  Mr.  Stockman.  "I  should  think  that  steel 
would  be  so  heavy  and  stiff  that  you  could  not.  bend  it 
around  an  angle,"  said  Mr.  Campbell.  Mr.  Wickham  said, 
"Come  on,  Mr.  Campbell,  I  have  an  engagement."  They 
bid  the  engineers  good-bye  and  departed. 

The  mining  excitement  was  caused  by  discoveries  in 
previous  years  in  the  Summit  and  Baker  Park  districts 
30  to  60  miles  away,  and  these  places  and  the  ways  of 
ingress  and  egress  were  so  covered  with  snow  that  it  was 
not  possible  to  prospect  or  get  work  to  any  considerable 
extent  before  June  1st. 

•  Mr.  Wickham  reached  the  -hotel  about  seven  o'clock 
the  following  evening.  Remaining  quiet  for  a  few  mo- 
ments, he  finally  burst  out: 

"Man's  inhumanity  to  man  still  makes  countless 
thousands  mourn.  These  people,  the  newspapers,  hotels, 
stage  companies,  and  railroads,  are  persistently  advertis- 
ing this  place  as  the  gateway  to  the  San  Juan  mines,  and 
telling  of  the  hundreds  of  people  coming  in  to  mine, 
when  they  know  these  poor  fellows  cannot  get  work  here 
for  two  months,  and  it  is  all  occasioned  by  a  sordid  desire 
to  get  the  pay  for  transporting  and  for  feeding  them;  it- 
is  a  natural,  if  it  is  not  a  statutory,  crime." 

"Well,  I  do  not  see  it  in  that  way."  replied  Mr.  Me- 


62  THE   PILGRIM 

Collough,  the  hotel  keeper,  "we  do  not  tell  them  that  the 
mines  are  at  Del  Norte  or  that  the  snow  is  off  the  moun- 
tains. All  that  the  railroad  company,  stage  -company,  the 
newspapers,  or  myself,  tell  them  is  true. 

aBut,"  said  Mr.  Wickham,  ayou  do  not  tell  the  whole 
truth.  There  is  an  implication  in  your  statement  that 
the  mines  are  here  and  being  worked.  Is  there  any 
moral  or  real  distinction  between  telling  a  falsehood  and 
artfully  and  intentionally  concealing  the  truth? 

"If"  you  invite  a  person  to  be  seated  on  a  sheaf  of 
wheat  with  an  adder  concealed  in  it,  that  you  know  will 
sting  him  to  death,  are  you  guiltless  because  you  do  not 
mention  the  serpent  ?  No,  you  are  guilty.  '  You  tell  a 
quiescent,  an  implied  falsehood  which,  from  the  cunning 
deception,  often  involves  greater  turpitude  than  an  ex- 
press falsehood. 

"The  distinction  is  but  a  convenient  escape  for  a 
pliable  conscience.  I  have  had  this  injustice  forcibly  im- 
pressed upon  my  mind  this  afternoon  by  hearing  the  trial 
of  one  of  these  deluded  men  for  a  theft. 

"He  swore  that  he  was  a  miner  living  in  Cheyenne, 
doing  odd  jobs  and  barely  making  an  existence,  and  one  of 
your  newspapers  was  put  into  his  hands,  giving  glowing 
accounts  of  this  mining  country  and  telling  the  number 
of  daily  arrivals  coming  here  to  mine  and  prospect,  carry- 
ing an  indisputable  implication  that  they  were  operating. 
He  started  at  once  and  expended  all  of  his  money  in 
reaching  here,  and  was  horrified  to  learn  that  he  could  not 
get  into  the  mines  for  sixty  days;  yesterday  he  searched 
the  town  for  work  and  repeatedly  offered  to  work  for  his 
board;  he  was  without  supper  last  night  or  breakfast  this 
morning,  and  while  hunting  work  today  he  discovered  the 


AND  THE   PIONEER  63 

part  of  a  ham  of  venison  hanging  outside  of  a  cabin,  and 
the  pangs  of  hunger  impelled  him  to  slip  it  under  his 
coat;  he  was  overtaken,  arrested,  dragged  into  court,  con- 
victed, and  sent  to  jail  in  disgrace. 

"The  lecture  of  the  judge  in  sentencing  this  prisoner 
was  a  disgusting  travesty  upon  every  element  of  justice 
and  of  common  sense.  He  blandly  said  that  if  all  of  the 
miner's  statements  were  true,  still  that  would  furnish  no 
excuse  for  the  theft.  ~No  excuse  ?  The  heartless  cormor- 
ants who  deluded  him  into  such  a  charnel  house  were 
accessories  before  the  fact,  yea  more;  they  were  guilty  of 
the  theft  and  in  addition  were  guilty  of  brutally  assault- 
ing a  fellow-being  with  the  excruciating  pangs  of  hun- 
ger. The  ignorance  of  the  legislator  and  of  the  jurist 
is  made  manifest  when  they  pronounce  it  a  grave  mis- 
demeanor even  to  touch  insolently  the  hem  of  another's 
garment,  when  they  will  with  impunity  starve  one  to  death 
from  the  pangs  of  hunger,  or  when,  through  stealth,  de- 
ception, and  misrepresentation,  one  may,  as  was  done  in 
this  case,  purloin  his  neighbor's  cash  for  transporting  him 
into  concealed  environments  which  must  commit  the 
deadly  assault  of  hunger  upon  him,  and  yet  remain 
legally  guiltless.  Even  approximate  justice  will  not 
prevail  in  the  courts  until  legislators  and  jurists  hunt 
out  the  responsible  cause,  the  person  who  commits 
the  first  wrong  which  led  to  the  overt  act,  rather  than 
some  unfortunate  one  who  is  forced  by  another's  wrong 
to  do  the  forbidden  physical  act.  Legislators  and  jurists 
do  not,  they  cannot,  fully  appreciate  the  gravity  of  these 
fallacies  unless  at  some  time  they  have  been  compelled 
to  battle  with  squalor  and  the  pinch  of  hunger." 

"The  Pullman  of  a  B.  &  O.  train  broke  down  a 
short  time  ago,  and  the  passengers  were  without  food  for 


64  THE  PILGRIM 

eleven  hours;  these  Very  best'  citizens  were  ready  to 
break  into  a  smokehouse  for  something  to  eat,  and  the 
same  persons  expect  the  poor  to  go  without  work  and 
hungry  for  weeks  and  months  without  doing  anything 
that  is  abnormal. 

"There  seems  to  be  no  other  task  so  difficult  to  the 
masses  as  to  learn  this  lesson  of  human  nature.  They 
persist  in  expecting  an  idle  man  to  act  like  a  busy  one; 
a  hungry  man  like  a  well-fed  one;  an  illiterate  man 
like  an  educated  one,  when  they  are  all  as  different  as 
jet  and  ivory,  and  the  remedies  are  as  different  as  those 
for  a  burning  fever  and  a  frigid  paralysis. 

"Well,  there  is  to  be  another  trial  before  the  justice 
at  eight  o'clock,  and  I  shall  go  over  and  get  another  les- 
son in  this  progressive  civilization." 

Mr.  Campbell  suggested  that  he  should  be  pleased 
to  accompany  him  if  he  would  not  be  in  the  way. 

"No,"  said  Mr.  Wickham,  "I  should  enjoy  your  com- 
pany very  much." 

The  two  hurriedly  walked  to  the  office  of  the  justice 
in  West  Del  Norte,  and  as  they  stepped  into  the  door 
they  were  summoned  as  jurors  in  the  case  of  H.  vs.  F., 
demand  $7,  credit  $5,  balance  due,  $2.  They  were  duly 
sworn  to  answer  questions,  and  the  attorney  for  the  plain- 
tiff told  Mr.  Campbell  to  take  the  chair. 

"What  is  your  name,  age,  business,  and  place  of  resi- 
dence?" said  the  attorney. 

"John  Campbell,  age  21,  member  of  the  bar;  resi- 
dence, for  the  time  being,  Del  Norte." 

"I  object  to  him  because  he  is  a  lawyer,"  interposed 
the  defendant  who  had  no  attorney. 

"Hold  on,"  Suggested  the  plaintiff's  attorney,  "and 
we  will  find  out  if  he  knows  enough  law  to  excuse  him." 


AND  THE   PIONEER  65 

"Mr.  Campbell,  if  the  evidence  should  develop 
that  the  plaintiff  sold  the  defendant  some  hay,  the 
defendant  paid  the  bill,  lacking  $2 ;  that  the  defendant 
started  to  Arizona  and  when  out  15  miles  the  plaintiff 
attached  his  team  for  $7  and  costs ;  that  he  found  the 
defendant  with  the  doubletree  of  his  wagon  broken  and 
he  would  have  been  compelled  to  return  here  any  way; 
that  the  mistake  of  suing  him  for  $7  instead  of  $2  was 
occasioned  by  the  limited  time  the  plaintiff  had  in  which 
to  foot  up  his  books;  now  what  I  would  like  to  know  is, 
would  this  condition  of  facts  prejudice  you  against  the 
plaintiff,  or  the  fact  that  he  attached  for  more  than  was 
due  prejudice  you  against  the  claim  he  might  show  to  be 
due?" 

"Well,"  the  juror  replied,  "I  could  not  say  that  these 
facts  would  necessarily  prejudice  me,  but  I  should  want 
to  know  if  the  plaintiff  knew  the  defendant1  was  going 
to  leave  in  time  to  have  presented  his  bill  or  sued  on 
it  before  he  left  town;  I  should  also  want  to  know  if 
he  ever  made  a  demand  before  he  sued  and  the  particu- 
lars about  getting  in  his  attachment  a  sworn  statement 
of  $7  while  admitting  now  that  the  defendant  only  owes 
$2,  before  I  should  want  to  give  him  a  judgment,  that 
is,  if  the  defendant  should  deny  the  debt;  however,  these 
circumstances  should  be  used  rather  as  affecting  the  credi- 
bility of  his  testimony.  And  I  should  also  wish  to  know 
whether  he  had  made  a  practice  of  allowing  men  to  get 
started  out  of  the  country  and  then  attaching  them  for 
amounts  so  small  that  they  would  prefer  to  pay  rather 
than  return  to  defend  even  though  they  owed  nothing." 

"That's  it,  that's  it — quite  right,  quite  right,"  inter- 
posed the  defendant.  "I'gosh  I'm  afeard  that  follow 
knows  enough  law  to  excuse  him." 

TIIK  I'.i.c; HIM.— 5 


66  THE  PILGRIM 

The  plaintiff's  attorney  deliberately  arose  and  said, 
"May  your  honor  please,  I  shall  object  to  this  juror,  not 
because  he  is  surfeited  with  legal  lore,  but  because  he 
seems  to  have  a  kind  of  mouth  disease.  Should  he  get 
started  in  the  jury-room  on  his  abstract  philosophy,  I 
am  afraid  he  would  run  until  doomsday.  In  the  interest 
of  mercy  for  the  other  eleven  'good  and  true,  etc.,'  I  shall 
ask  that  he  stand  aside." 

"Too  bad,  too  bad,"  interjected  the  defendant, 

"Come  forward,  Mr.  Wickham,"  said  the  justice. 

"Your  name  is  Wickham,  I  believe,"  said  the  plain- 
tiff's attorney. 

"Yes  sir." 
"How  long  have  you  been  in  Colorado  ?" 

"I  crossed  the  plains  with  a  bull  team  in  1849." 

"Where  have  you  resided  since  then  ?" 

"The  most  of  the  time  in  Gregory  Gulch  and  in  the 
Arkansas  Valley,  but  quite  a  time  in  California." 

"Mr.  Wickham,  would  the  fact  that  the  defendant 
is  a  pioneer  and  the  plaintiff  a  newcomer,  or  what  you 
old  timers  call  a  'pilgrim'  or  'tenderfoot,'  cause  you  to 
be  biased  one  way  or  the  other  ?" 

"No,  sir;  the  code  of  the  pioneer  teaches  that  when 
you  enter  the  sacred  temples  of  justice,  you  shall  forget 
who  is  plaintiff  and  who  is  defendant,  and  deal  only  with 
the  subject  matter;  in  other  words,  the  jury  becomes  a 
mere  machine  to  hold  the  scales  of  exact  justice,  and 
make  a  correct  report  of  what  these  scales  register," 

"Let  me  understand  you.  Are  you  and  '49ers  not 
generally  a  little  clannish  and  do  you  not  regard  an  old 
timer  as  superior  to  a  newcomer?" 

."The  '49er  has  been  tried  in  the  fire  and  not  found 
wanting.  He  left  the  influence  of  family  and  friends, 


AND  THE   PIONEER  67 

and  met  here  the  stranger  in  a  strange  land  and  unob- 
structed nature,  neither  of  which  respected  anything  about 
him  except  such  as  merited  approval.  The  pioneer  has 
gone  through  the  great  university  of  nature  and  under- 
stands men  and  things.  He  has  never  seen  much  that 
is  artificial,  therefore  there  is  but  little  of  the  artificial 
about  him.  I  might  say  that  they  are  not  more  clannish 
than  the  graduates  of  Harvard  or  Yale.  We  might 
measure  the  pioneer's  worth  by  the  inerit  of  the  great 
school  of  which  he  is  a  pupil.  I  should  regard  his  title 
of  pioneer  as  a  certificate  of  character  from  the  great 
school  of  nature.  That  is  all." 

"You  have  a  very  poor  opinion  of  the  pilgrim  or 
tenderfoot,  have  you  not  ?" 

"I  cannot  say  that  I  have.  However,  I  am  rather 
sorry  for  them.  They  are  not  censurable.  Many  of 
them  have  been  brought  up  among  indulgent  parents  and 
old  family  friends,  coming  down  through  many  genera- 
tions, and  their  peevish  whims  have  been  tolerated  or 
humored  because  of  their  relationship  or  Because  of  some 
ancestral  influence,  and  their  chief  experience  has  been 
with  artificial  things.  They  have  never  known  the  ad- 
vantage of  a  constant  communion  with  nature,  or  the 
muscular  or  mental  advantages  of  being  compelled  to 
fight  their  own  battles  or  depend  upon  their  own  re- 
sources without  a  sympathetic  pulsation  or  word  of  en- 
couragement, except  as  a  laudable  act  or  a  line  of  meritori- 
ous conduct  spontaneously  awakens  approbation  in  their 
fellows  in  general." 

"You  do  not  claim  Del  ISTorte  -as  your  permanent 
abode?" 

"I  do  not" 

The  nttorney  for  the  plaintiff  arose  and  said:  "May 


68  THE   PILGRIM 

the  Court  please,  this  juror  might  serve,  provided  neither 
party  objected,  but  either  party  may  object  on  account 
of  his  residence.  I  examined  him,  thinking  if  he  was 
in  a  normal  state  of  mind  we  might  accept  him  and  save 
time,  but  he  seems  to  think  that  unless  a  person  reached 
here  in  his  teens  and  slept  in  a  snow  bank  like  a  polar 
bear,  ate  grass  like  an  ox,  and  renounced  all  of  the  polished 
amenities  of  Eastern  life,  he  is  a  mere  object  of  pity. 
For  fear  he  might  overpersuade  the  other  eleven  good  and 
true  men  to  bring  in  a  verdict  against  my  client  for  im- 
becility, and  ask  to  have  him  sent  to  a  school  for  the 
correction  of  such  unfortunates,  I  shall,  in  the  interest 
of  liberty,  ask  that  he  be  excused." 

"Too  bad,  too  bad,"  said  the  defendant.  "Lost  two 
of  the  best  men  on  the  panel." 

The  Court  announced  a  recess  of  ten  minutes  while 
the  constable  summoned  two  more  jurors. 

The  defendant  hurried  over  to  the  two  jurors  just 
excused,  and  clasped  their  hands,  saying: 

"I  am  sorry  you  gentlemen  know  too  much  to  sit  on 
a  jury.  It  is  a  downright  blemish  upon  a-n  unfolding 
civilization  that  the  denser  the  ignorance,  the  more  capa- 
ble the  possessor  to  decide  the  complicated  differences 
dividing  a  man  and  his  neighbors.  By  the  way,  Mr. 
Campbell,  you  are  a  lawyer,  and  I'll  hide  if  I  don't  like 
the  way  you  talked.  You  just  hit  the  bull's  eye  the 
first  round.  I'll  hide  if  I  wouldn't  like  to  hire  you  to  help 
me  if  there  was  not  so  little  involved ;  then  the  plaintiff 
knows  he  can't  show  that  I  owe  him  anything.  He  really 
owes  me  fifty  cents  that  I  overpaid  him,  and  he  agreed 
to  bring  the  change  back,  but^found  it  convenient  to  for- 
get it." 

Mr.  Wickham  said,  "I  guess  we  could  persuade  our 


AND  THE   PIONEER  69 

friend  Campbell  to  lend  you  -  a  helping  hand  without 
charge  for  the  good  of  the  order,  as  it  were." 

"No,  no,"  Mr.  Campbell  answered,  "I  should 
make  a  mess  of  this  as  I  have  of  everything  else  I  have 
touched  in  this  inexplicable  country.  I  shall  now  keep 
in  retirement  until  I  learn  the  rudiments  of  this  mys- 
terious civilization." 

Mr.  Wickham  replied,  "You  must  not.  You  shall 
not  feel  this  discouraging  humiliation.  In  your  examina- 
tion as  a  juror  you  evinced  a  clear  comprehension  of  the 
defendant's  case,  and  you  impressed  him  and  everybody 
else,  favorably.  You  can  find  all  the  defense  you  want 
in  that  Justice's  docket.  There  is  a  general  blackmailing 
system  here,  you  must  help  justice  out,  and  incidentally 
this  defendant." 

"I  would  be  ever  so  much  obleeged,"  said  the  defend- 
ant. "You  know  you  lawyers  will  not  defend  your  own 
cases.  Let's  see,  your  proverb  is:  'If  a  lawyer  defends 
his  own  case,  he  has  a  fool  for  a  client.  Then  what  would 
I  have,  playing  defendant,  attorney,  witness,  examiner 
of  myself,  etc.  ?  Why,  I  would  have  all  kinds  of  fools 
for  a  client.  I  would  be  ever  so  glad  if  you  would  examine 
the  witnesses  and  make  the  same  kind  of  a  talk  that  you 
did  on  your  'voir  dire;'  I  believe  that  is  what  you  lawyers 
call  it.  All  the  jurors  didn't  hear  them  apt  answers  to 
that  lawyer  which  so  broke  his  heart.  I  tell  you  that's 
the  kind  of  stuff  him  and  that  justice  are  afraid  of." 

"Well,"  said  Mr.  Campbell,  "I  am  not  practicing 
here  and  am  not  familiar  with  your  practice,  hence  should 
not  want  to  take  charge  of  your  case,  but  shall  gladly  ex- 
amine the  witnesses  and  make  a  four  or  five  minute  speech 
to  the  jury." 

The  defendant  grasped  his  hands,  and  said : 


70  THE   PILGRIM 

"I'm  ever  so  much  obleeged;  we'll  now  bring  the 
heartless  Shylocks  to  justice." 

The  other  jurors  appeared;  they  were  sworn  to 
'well  and  truly  try  the  issues/  etc.,  and  the  plaintiff  and 
defendant  made  statements  under  oath,  then  the  plaintiff's 
attorney  addressed  the  jury  as  follows: 

"Gentlemen  of  the  jury :  "Now  I  am  not  going  to 
delay  you  at  this  late  hour,  but  shall  call  your  attention 
to  one  suspicious  course  of  conduct  on  the  part  of  the 
defendant,  then  I  shall  confidently  submit  the  destiny  of 
my  'client  to  your  keeping.  You  will  observe  that  he 
began  his  trial  without  counsel.  This  evinces  either  that 
no  respectable  lawyer  would  defend  him  or  that  he  knew 
his  case  was  hopeless  and  fully  expected  to  have  to  pay 
this  bill  and  costs,  but  when  the  constable  by  mere  chance 
brought  before  this  court  as  a  juror  a  young  tramp  attor- 
ney, without  clients  or  fame,  and  when  the  defendant 
heard  his  cant  vaporings  on  his  fvoir  dire/  which  proved 
his  incapacity  as  a  juror,  he  imbibed  his  first  hope  of 
success,  and  in  some  mysterious  way  only  known  to  those 
birds  of  the  same  feather  that  ever  intuitively  flock  to- 
gether, we  find  the  fellow  installed  at  the  eleventh  hour 
as  attorney  for  his  defendant,  and  you  have  seen  what  a 
chaotic  mess  he  has  made  of  the  defendant's  case.  God 
forbid  that  they  be  encouraged  with  an  ill-gotten  verdict 
that  they  may  lock  arms  and  walk  up  and  down  these 
streets  cackling  like  Juno's  swans." 

Mr.  Campbell  then  arose  and  picked  up  the  justice 
docket  and,  one  by  one,  turned  to  three  different  cases 
where  the  same  plaintiff  had  attached  departing  citizens 
for  small  amounts;  in  every  case  they  had  paid  up 
without  appearing  in  court,  evidently  preferring  to  be 
blackmailed  rather  than  delayed;  "and,"  said  Mr.  Camp- 


AND  THE   PIONEER  71 

bell,  "this  would  have  been  the  fourth  if  God,  in  his  mys- 
terious providence,  had  not  foreordained  the  breaking  of 
that  doubletree  that  this  vile  nest  of  petty,  public  plun- 
derers might  be  unearthed." 

The  defendant  jumped  to  his  feet,  crying  out: 

"That's  it;  that's  it;  that's  it!" 

The  justice  ordered  both  the  defendant  and  his  coun- 
sel to  be  seated,  and  said  that  the  court  could  not  sit  quietly 
and  have  its  high  motives  impugned. 

Mr.  Campbell  said : 

"Very  well,  I  shall  try  to  proceed  in  order.  Gentle- 
men, individual  transgressions  are  stifling  to  the  public, 
but  corruption  in  a  public  officer  dries  up  the  very  well- 
springs  of  the  people's  hope." 

The  justice  insisted  that  he  could  not  tolerate  such 
insinuations. 

Mr.  Campbell  suggested  that  the  constable  was  the 
plaintiff  in  the  case,  and  he  had  a  right  to  comment  on 
him. 

The  justice  replied,  "No !" 

Then  Mr.  Campbell  continued: 

"Gentlemen  of  the  jury,  in  the  seclusion  of  your  jury- 
room  there  will  be  no  culprit  to  wince  at  every  mention  of 
guilt;  there  will  be  no  villain  clothed  with  a  little  tem- 
porary power  to  shut  the  calcium  light  out  of  these  putrid 
beds  of  corruption  that  are  destroying  the  very  pillars 
of  the  body  politic — 

"Stop,  stop,  stop  !  The  court  will  not  tolerate  this  un- 
seemly conduct  longer." 

The  defendant  jumped  to  his  feet,  saying: 

"This  is  my  attorney  and  he  shall  be  heard." 

Mr.  Campbell  waved  him  down  with  his  hand,  and 
continued : 


72  THE  PILGRIM 

"No,  I  have  said  quite  enough.  Now  let  us  hear 
from  the  jury,  and  may  its  guiding  star  be,  "Let  no  guilty 
man  escape." 

The  jury  retired  to  their  room  for  a  few  moments, 
then  returned  with  a  verdict  for  the  defendant  for  fifty 
cents  and  costs.     The  justice  ordered  the  court  adjourned. 
The  defendant  grasped  the  hands  of  the  jurors,  saying: 
"But  didn't  we  stir  up  a  den  of  thieves,  though  ?" 

"No,  I  reckon  we  won't  go  down  town  cackling  like 
Juno's  swans.  We  will  just  go  making  more  fuss  than 
a  whole  barnyard  of  guinea  hens  on  a  cloudy  evening." 

He  invited  Mr.  Wickham  and  Mr.  Campbell  to  all 
kinds  of  refreshments,  but  as  it  was  late  they  declined, 
and  retired  for  the  night. 


CHAPTEK  V. 

LIFTING  THE  GOLDEN  SCALES. 

About  nine  o'clock  a.  m.,  Mr.  Wickham  was  ab- 
sorbed in  reading  a  detailed  statement  in  the  Prospector, 
of  the  shooting  of  a  man  a  few  nights  before  by  the 
marshal,  the  incarceration  of  a  leading  merchant  for  un- 
favorably commenting  on  it,  and  the  escape  of  the  mer- 
chant by  cutting  a  log  out  of  the  wooden  jail. 

Mr.  McCullough,  the  hotel  proprietor,  appeared  and 
remarked:  "Well,  Mr.  Wickham,  how  was  the  court  last 
night  ?" 

"Oh,"  answered  Mr.  Wickham,  "we  fell  into  a  den 
of  thieves  last  night.  The  very  dregs  of  society  are  gov- 
erning this  town.  It  seems  that  when  two  or  three  gather 
together,  the  Lord  is  always  in  their  midst,  but  when 
the  pilgrims  swarm  in  multitudes  and  light  hither  or 
thither,  that  his  Satanic  Majesty  takes  control  and  the 
evil  ones  are  permitted  to  prey  upon  the  good  and  upon 
one  another,  until  they  are  thinned  out,  before  God  or 
man  erects  a  house  of  correction  there." 

"I  am  afraid,"  replied  Mr.  McCollough,  "that  you  are 
a  confirmed  pessimist ;  that  you  are  out  with  a  magnifying 
glass  looking  for  the  bad.  If  you  would  think  for  a  mo- 
ment, you  would  not  expect  to  find  many  of  our  Master's 
precepts  in  vogue  in  a  justice  court.  Your  bow  has  been 
bent  too  long  without  relaxation ;  it  is  losing  its  flexibility 
and  becoming  set  in  its  way.  Relax  this  and  spend  just 

one  week  with  the  invigorating  tonic  of  optimism.      It 

(73) 


74  THE  PILGRIM 

will  rest  you ;  it  will  give  you  a  new  idea  of  the  currents 
of  civilization. 

"Now,  there  is  a  sensational  divorce  case  to  be  called 
in  the  county  court  today,  and  it  will  last  about  a  week. 
It  is  between  a  very  rich  and  polished  old  gentleman  and 
his  beautiful  young  wife.  The  most  eminent  counsel  will 
appear  on  each  side.  The  judge  is  a  refined  and  educated 
gentleman,  and  here  you  may  study  the  exemplary  meth- 
ods provided  by  our  law  givers  for  relieving  individuals 
from  the  results  of  the  tantalizing  and  ruinous  mis- 
takes which  persons  blunder  into,  even  in  making 
imcompatible  or  inharmonious  matrimonial  compacts. 
When  you  wish  to  enjoy  the  exalted,  you  must 
go  where  the  best  reigns  supreme.  There  is  much 
good  in  the  world,  but  we  never  can  see  or  know  of  it  if 
we  only  search  the  haunts  of  evil." 

"On  the  contrary,"  Mr.  Wickham  replied,  "I  am 
theoretically  and  practically  a  devout  disciple  of  Leibnitz 
or  Spinoza — extended.  I  never  see  clouds  so  dark  or 
threatening  that  I  cannot  exuberantly  optimize.  I  have 
never  met  but  one  event  that  would  not  yield  to  this 
roseate  treatment,  and  this  involved  the  transgression  of 
an  immutable  law  of  nature.  .  The  result  of  this  personal 
violation  is  the  only  thorn  that  ever  pierced  my  side,  and 
this  is  irremediable.  Optimism  must  work  in  harmony 
with  natural  laws,  as  they  will  brook  no  obstruction. 
'The  Holy  Creed  of  Blessed  Optimism'  is  second  in  power 
for  good  only  to  the  law  of  gravitation.  The  world 
owes  every  invention,  every  step  of  evolution,  every  victory 
in  civilization,  to  this  powerful  stimulus,  optimism. 

"The  pessimists  are  annoying  clogs  in  the  wheels  of 
all  that  is  good,  beautiful,  or  progressive.  They,  like 
the  deadly  upas,  spread  the  mist  of  degeneracy,  and  dry 


AND   THE   PIONEER  75 

rot  all  about  them.  They  deserve  nothing  but  dark,  slug- 
gish shadows;  they  get  no  more. 

"The  enthusiastic  optimist  may  seem  pessimistic 
about  the  things  of  the  present  moment,  but  through  his 
exultant  confidence  in  his  power  to  produce  better  things, 
he  blows  the  unworthy  systems  away  and  supplants  them 
with  higher  orders.  He  is  constantly  proud  of  his  ac- 
complishments. He  is  ever  exhilarated  with  a  knowledge 
of  the  limitless  possibilities  of  man.  He  has  ever  in  his 
mind  the  e World  Beautiful.'  He  finds  sunshine  in  every 
cloud,  joy  in  every  passing  breeze,  glorious  success  in 
every  hopeful  effort.  I  am  an  optimist." 

On  the  way  back  to  the  hotel,  after  an  early  morning 
walk,  Mr.  Wickham  and  Mr.  Campbell  stopped  to  watch 
a  painter  lettering  the  firm  name  of  Messrs.  Bond  & 
Calvin,  Attorneys-at-Law,  on  a  large  window  pane.  Mr. 
Wickham  walked  in  and  introduced  himself,  then  present- 
ed Mr.  Campbell  as  a  young  limb  of  the  law.  "Ah ! 
ha !"  exclaimed  Mr.  Bond,  "I  extend  to  you  a  frater- 
nal, as  well  as  a  personal,  welcome.  To  what  branch 
of  the  profession  do  you  purpose  consecrating  your  life?" 
"To  all  branches,"  answered  Mr.  Campbell.  "I  have 
just  invested  one  hundred  dollars  in  Blackstone  and  Kent's 
Commentaries,  Chitty  and  Stephens  on  Pleading,  Green- 
leaf  on  Evidence,  Parsons  on  Contracts,  and  Jen- 
kins'  Forms,  and  some  thirty  odd  other  general  books, 
and  have  lugged  them  2,500  miles.  These  books  cover 
all  phases  of  the  law,  and  I  shall  have  to  devote  myself 
to  general  practice  to  get  the  full  benefits  of  my  pur- 
chase and  trouble.  I  presume  no  one  has  brought  any 
books  of  consequence  away  out  here  ?" 

"Not  many,"  replied  Mr.  Bond,  "step  in  to  the  reqr 
room  and  look  over  the  few  books  we  have."  As  they 


76  THE  PILGRIM 

crossed  the  threshhold  into  the  library  room,  Mr.  Bond 
pointed  out  about  five  hundred  text  books,  covering  the 
most  important  questions.  "Over  on  the  other  side," 
said  he,  "are  the  Colorado,  Nevada,  California,  Illinois, 
New  Jersey,  and  several  other  state  reports  and  the  U. 
S.  S.  Ct.  Reports  and  Digests,  making  about  twelve  hun- 
dred volumes,  and  if  business  continues  good  through- 
out the  year  we  shall  double  the  number,  as  we  find  it 
very  difficult  to  get  along  with  so  few  books  in  this  new 
country,  where  such  a  limited  number  of  questions  have 
been  settled  by  our  Supreme  Court." 

Mr.  Campbell's  face  became  pale,  his  eyes  set,  and 
his  mouth  stood  rigid  and  wide  open.  Mr.  Wickham  took 
in  the  situation,  pushed  him  toward  the  door  and  said, 
"We  are  much  obliged,  Mr.  Bond.  We  must  be  going. 
Good  day,"  and  the  two  stepped  back  to  the  sidewalk. 

After  a  few  moments  of  silence,  Mr.  Wickham  sug- 
gested :  "Mr.  Campbell,  you  are  a  very  young  man  and 
younger  still  in  experience  in  the  ways  and  conditions 
common  to  the  New  West,  and  purely  for  your  own  good, 
I  should  like  to  give  you  just  such  an '  advisory  talk  as 
I  should  thank  your  father  for  giving  to  one  of  my  chil- 
dren should  she  visit  Tennessee,  that  is,  if  you  will  not 
be  sensitive." 

"I  shall  accept  any  counsel  you  may  kindly  offer  me, 
as  a  great  personal  favor.  It  seems  that  every  time  I  open 
my  mouth  I  have  good  cause  to  regret  it." 

"Yes,"  answered  Mr.  Wickham,  "  I  observed  your 
great  embarrassment  when  you  were  forced  to  compare 
your  out-of-date  compass  with  the  modern,  expensive 
solar  transit,  and  a  like  embarrassment  when  your  forty- 
book  library  was  contrasted  with  the  twelve  hundred 
volumes  stacked  on  the  shelves  of  Bond  &  Calvin's  office." 


AND  THE  PIONEER  77 

"Yes,  yes,"  answered  Mr.  Campbell,  "at  each  ex- 
posure I  felt  that  I  should  like  to  sink  through  the  floor 
or  hurry  back  to  old  Tennessee  and  hide  my  head  from 
the  shame  and  humiliation  that  my  ignorance  and  egotism 
have  brought  upon  me." 

Mr.  Wickham  kindly  replied:  "My  dear  young 
friend,  you  must  not,  you  shall  not,  feel  humiliated.  As 
the  old  song  goes,  'They  all  do  it,  though  ofttimes  they 
rue  it.J  '  But  neither  they  nor  you  are  to  blame  for  these 
mistakes,  as  grotesque  as  they  may  seem.  The  sensa- 
tional newspapers  have  always  written  up  this  country 
as  a  mere  rendezvous  of  Buffalo  Bill's  Rocky  Mountain 
Hanks,  stage-coach  hold-ups,  and  abandoned  cowboys, 
and  have  rarely  referred  to  the  better  side  of  Western 
life.  It  is  needless  for  you  to  make  further  mistakes. 
You  have  observed  the  superior  personnel  and  equipment 
of  the  engineers  and  of  the  lawyers  in  Del  Norte,  on  the 
very  frontier  of  Western  civilization.  The  same  high 
standard  runs  through  all  professions  and  vocations  in 
the  New  West.  The  percentage  of  illiteracy  in  the  West 
is  not  as  great  as  in  the  boastful  New  England.  Instead 
of  the  people  here  being  the  offscourings  of  the  Eastern 
states,  they  represent  the  very  cream  of  the  energy  and 
intelligence  of  the  States  and  of  Europe.  They  are  not 
the  dull  and  slothful,  but  the  most  spirited  and  intellectual 
young  men  and  young  women  who  shake  the  dust  of  the 
old  homesteads  from  their  feet,  and  take  Horace  Greeley's 
good  advice  to  go  West.  The  Rocky  Mountain  states, 
particularly,  have  an  educated  and  superior  class  of 
citizens,  as  tens  of  thousands  of  the  best  Eastern  people 
have  come  here  to  obtain  the  benefits  of  this  pure  and 
dry  atmosphere,  hoping  thereby  to  recuperate  decaying 
constitutions.  This  is  essentially  a  modern  civilization. 


78  THE   PILGRIM 

There  is  not  a  backwoods  region  in  this  great  Western 
domain.  These  people  have  all  travelled  and  have  seen 
nearly  all  phases  of  human  life.  There  is  little  that  is  old 
or  old-fashioned  here.  Everything  is  new,  hence  generally 
of  the  latest  pattern.-  You  noticed,  of  course,  the  su- 
periority of  the  railroad  tracks,  cars,  and  equipage  as 
you  came  west  of  Kansas  City.  There  is  not  a  country 
on  the  globe  in  advance  of  the  New  West  in  new  and 
improved  implements  and  machinery,  in  modern  methods, 
in  new  thought,  in  advanced  laws,  or  high  aspirations. 
As  you  become  better  acquainted,  your  greater  surprise 
will  be  to  find  old  Tennessee  and  her  neighboring  states 
a  half  century  behind  the  New  West  yi  everything  that 
makes  a  country  truly  great.  I  am  afraid  that  in  trying 
to  enlighten  you,  I  may  discourage  you.  I  believe  that 
in  ability,  in  personal  and  in  professional  worth,  you 
are  the  peer  of  your  fellows,  but  don't  make  the  mistake 
of  concluding  that  you  are  superior.  Mr.  Wallace,  of 
this  bar,  ranked  very  high  at  the  bar  of  Missouri  and 
later  of  Nevada,  and  was  formerly  a  close  personal  and  lit- 
erary friend  of  Mark  Twain.  Mr.  Eankin  had  more  than 
a  state  reputation  at  the  bar  and  in  politics,  before  leaving 
Virginia.  Mr.  Tischner  was  one  of  the  brightest  of  his 
class  in  law  at  the  University  of  Virginia.  Mr.  Lewis 
ranked  very  high  in  his  law  and  literary  classes  at  the 
Columbian  University,  and  Messrs.  Brown  &  Best  were 
among  the  most  successful  lawyers  in  Georgia. 

"A  few  years  ago  a  wealthy  young  man  from  Chi- 
cago was  indicted  for  murder  in  Denver.  His  friends 
sent  the  eminent  lawyer,  Leonard  Sweat  of  Chicago,  to 
Denver  to  defend  him,  and  retained  Mr.  Plunket,  of  Den- 
ver, a  brilliant  criminal  lawyer,  to  assist.  At  the  end  of 
the  second  day,  the  Chicago  lawyer  turned  the  management 


AND  THE   PIONEER  79 

the  defense  over  to  Mr.  Plunkett,  and  at  the  end  of  a  three 
weeks'  trial,  at  a  dinner  in  his  honor,  Mr.  Sweat  said 
that  he  cheerfully  raised  his  hat  and  bowed  his  head  to 
the  superior  ability  of  Mr.  Plunket  as  a  criminal  lawyer, 
and  added :  'It  would  be  wisdom  for  my  Chicago  clients 
to  take  Mr.  Plunket  to  Chicago  to  assist  ^me  in  their  de- 
fenses, but  it  is  a  gross  folly  to  send  me  to  Denver  to  as- 
sist him  in  defenses  here/  ' 

Just  before  ten  o'clock  a  beautiful  and  richly  dressed 
woman,  with  a  baby,  and  accompanied  by  two  erect,  pre- 
possessing, and  stylishly  dressed  young  men,  emerged  from 
a  room  leading  into  the  parlor  of  the  Central  Hotel. 

"There,  there,"  exclaimed  Mr.  McCollough,  "that 
woman  is  the  defendant,  the  heavy-set  man  a  cousin  of 
hers,  and  the  tall,  erect,  scholarly  looking  man  is  her 
attorney.  He  is  just  out  of  law  school  and  is  a  gem. 

"You  ought  to  hear  Colonel  E-ankin,  the  senior  coun- 
sel for  the  plaintiff.  He  is  graceful,  witty,  flowery,  and  a 
perfect  classic,  and  besides  he  is  as  pretty  as  a  New 
Jersey  country  schoolmarm. 

"Oh  my,  if  he  had  been  a  contemporary,  Demosthenes 
and  Cicero  would  never  have  been  heard  of.  Say,  by  the 
way,  the  plaintiff  doesn't  know  the  defendant  is  here. 
He  thinks  she  is  in  Chicago,  and  that  he  will  get  his 
decree  by  default.  Won't  there  be  weeping  and  gnashing 
of  teeth  when  they  step  into  the  court  house?" 

Mr.  Wickham  anol  Mr.  Campbell  followed  the  defend- 
ant's party  into  a  little  hewn-log,  dirt-roof,  one-story  build- 
ing, called  the  court  house.  As  the  defendant,  with  her 
pretty,  six-month-old  baby,  and  these  elegant  looking  gen- 
tlemen, brushed  through  the  gate  and  took  seats  inside  the 
railing,  a  twitter  of  excitement  permeated  the  room.  The 
answer  was  filed  and  time  taken  to  reply.  The  little 


80  THE  PILGRIM 

stranger  at  once  became  an  important  personage.  The 
plaintiff  disputed  the  motherhood  of  the  defendant  and 
his  fatherhood  of  the  little  visitor,  and  gave  it  the  ap- 
pellation of  a  "waif,  borrowed  or  hired  for  the  occasion." 
The  court  adjourned  for  the  morning  and  the  excite- 
ment spread  through  the  town. 

At  the  end  of  a  week,  as  Mr.  Wickham  and  Mr. 
Campbell  were  returning  from  a  duck  hunt  on  the  Rio 
Grande,  Mr.  McCollough  emerged  from  the  court  house 
and  said :  "Give  me  your  guns  and  ducks  and  go  in  quick. 
The  plaintiff's  counsel  is  raising  the  very  roof  of  the  build- 
ing with  his  eloquence.  He  is  delivering  a  philippic 
that  would  beggar  the  best  efforts  of  Wendell  Phillips." 

The  Pilgrim  and  the  Pioneer  squeezed  into  the  packed 
building  just  as  he  began  the  last  paragraphs  of  his  per 
oration. 

In  language  adorned  with  the  most  chaste  and  re- 
fined garlands  of  rhetoric,  he  pictured  this  beautiful  and 
graceful  defendant  in  her  coy  maidenhood  days,  being 
chosen  by  the  male  wet-nurse  now  at  her  side,  to  entrap  the 
polished,  affluent,  though  childish  old  plaintiff  into  a 
matrimonial  net;  the  consummation  of  the  purpose  to 
be  immediately  followed  by  a  division  of  his  property, 
to  be  used  in  common  by  these  intriguers  in  their  lascivious 
intercourse. 

He  drew  a  pathetic  picture  of  the  probable  way  in 
which  they  secured  the  babbling  cherub  boy  that  the  de- 
signing defendant  held  upon  her  lap,  from  some  over' 
crowded  asylum,  on  the  false  pretense  that  they  would 
honorably  cherish,  nourish,  and  train  it  in  the  way  it 
should  go.  Then  he  bitterly  denounced  their  degradation 
in  using  its  dimpled,  innocent  cheeks  as  a  key  to  open  the 
doors  of  the  sympathetic  flood-gates  of  these  jurors,  as  an 


AND  THE   PIONEER  81 

incentive  to  them  to  plunder  the  tottering  old  plaintiff, 
apparently  for  its  sustenance  as  his  offspring,  but  in  fact 
for  the  hellish,  evil,  designing  purposes  of  the  ill-omened 
pair. 

He  drew  a  graphic  picture  of  the  hurrying  of  the 
defendant  and  her.  Chicago  paramour  from  this  court 
house  to  the  "nearest  orphan  asylum,  at  the  close  of  the 
case,  for  a  final  disposition  of  this  "waif,"  fraudulently 
obtained,  hired  or  borrowed,  for  this  occasion.  He  pa- 
thetically pictured  the  sanctity  of  the  home,  and  piled 
contumely  after  contumely  on  the  unprotected  head  of  the 
despicable  courtesan  who  had  conspired  to  plunder  this 
old  plaintiff  after  he  had  reached  his  second  childhood, 
and  appealed  to  the  jurors  to  uphold  the  purity  of  woman- 
hood and  the  chastity  of  the  home. 

When  he  sat  down  it  was  evident  to  every  one  that 
he  had  judge,  jury,  audience;  and  that  the  defendant's 
counsel  was  whipped  into  comparative  silence. 

However,  the  young  attorney  awkwardly  scrambled  to 
his  feet  after  the  auditors  had  ceased  wiping  the  tears 
from  their  eyes,  and,  in  a  flexible,  mellow,  and  most 
pleasantly  cadenc.ed  voice,  he  said,  "Your  honor,  please, 
I  came  into  this  court  for  the  purpose  of  defending  the 
rights  of  a  forsaken  widow  and  an  abandoned  orphan; 
but  I  find  that  it  is  as  impossible  for  me  to  keep  with 
the  rulings  of  this  court  as  it  is  for  a  Hindoo  to  keep 
with  the  meanderings  of  the  solar  system,  and  seeing 
that  my  day  of  usefulness  is  over,  I  now  bid  you  all  a 
most  respectful  adieu."  He  put  his  hat  far  back  on  his  head 
and  began  a  long  stride  towards  the  door,  when  the  fair 
defendant  dramatically  arose,  grasped  his  coat  tail,  and 
said,  "O  do  not,  do  not,  do  not  forsake  me  in  this  hour 
of  my  distress."  He  turned  with  a  great  obeisance,  say- 


82  THE  PILGRIM 

ing,  "My  dear  madam,  I  possess  no  power  that  can  aid 
you  at  the  bar  of  this  tribunal,"  then  made  his  exit. 
The  court  had  to  take  a  recess  until  it  could  recouple 
the  defendant's  counsel  to  her  case.  This  dramatic  episode 
would  rival  the  best  efforts  of  Sir  Henry  Irving  and 
Ellen  Terry. 

The  jury  was  given  the  case  to  consider  its  verdict. 
It  was  out  a  few  moments  and  returned  a  verdict  for 
the  plaintiff.  The  audience  tumultuously  applauded  this 
announcement.  This  public  approval  of  the  defendant's 
downfall  almost  crushed  her.  The  defendant's  attorney 
immediately  applied  for  a  new  trial,  and  argued  it,  but 
the  judge  peremptorily  overruled  it,  and  as  usual  with 
weak  judges,  entered  into  a  long  homily  on  fair  and 
impartial  trials,  exact  justice,  a  just  verdict  of  a  jury  of 
peers,  etc.  This  brought  him  to  grief.  A  cloud  of  just 
indignation  was  observed  rising  in  the  face  of  the  beauti- 
ful and  outraged  defendant.  She  majestically  rose  and 
inquired,  "Your  honor,  may  I  say  a  word  in  my  own 
behalf?" 

The  very  courtly  young  judge  replied,  "Certainly, 
the  defendant  has  a  right  to  be  heard  in  person  or  by 
attorney.  In  this  court  we  endeavor  to  see  that  every  one 
gets  equal  and  exact  justice,"  and  he  meant  every  word 
of  it. 

"Your  honor,  please,  you  probably  thought  you  were 
speaking  the  entire  truth  when  you  said  that  the 
defendant  had  been  allowed  alimony  pendente  lite, 
and  had  been  put  upon  an  exact  equality  with 
the  plaintiff  in  this  case;  had  had  a  fair  and 
impartial  trial  before  a  jury  of  peers,  etc. ;  but  you 
will  pardon  me  if  I  deign  to  analyze  this  judicial  effusion 
from  so  laudable  a  source,  though  I  am  but  a  simple 


AND  THE  PIONEER  83 

woman.  Your  honor,  on  the  application  of  Colonel  Collier, 
an  eminent  member  of  this  bar,  you  allowed  me  fifty  dol- 
lars for  my  defense,  and  required  the  plaintiff  to  pay  it 
into  court.  This  has  been  my  only  dependence  in  this 
hotly  prosecuted  trial  of  ten  days.  Colonel  Collier  became 
discouraged  by  this  small  allowance.  He  said  the  ap- 
plication for  the  alimony  alone  was  worth  fifty  dollars. 
He  took  fifteen  dollars  out  of  it  and  paid  for  clerical 
work,  generously  donated  his  services,  and  withdrew  from 
the  case.  I  took  the  munificent  sum  of  thirty-five  dollars 
remaining  and  peddled  it  from  law  office  to  law  office,  only 
to  be  turned  away  with  the  discouraging  information  that 
a  proper  defense  in  this  case  would  be  worth  from  five 
hundred  to  a  thousand  dollars.  In  my  despair  I  went 
to  a  young  man  just  out  of  the  law  school,  who  had  never 
been  in  court.  He  disclaimed  his  ability  to  cope  with 
any  of  the  eminent  attorneys  of  the  plaintiff,  but  kindly 
said,  'If  you  can  do  no  better,  I  shall  do  my  very  best.' 
I  think,  under  the  circumstances,  he  has  done  well,  and 
I  am  very  thankful  to  him. 

"Your  honor,  I  am  informed  that  the  law  makes  it 
your  duty,  on  a  proper  application,  when  a  husband  sues 
his  wife,  to  decree  her  from  his  funds  such  an  amount  as 
will  enable  her  to  be  on  an  equality  with  him  in  the 
contest.  My  husband,  you,  you  sir,  have  expended 
thousands  of  dollars  in  employing  able  counsel,  and  in 
procuring  the  attendance  of  witnesses.  Through  the 
lavish  use  of  your  money,  you  have  convinced  this  jury 
and  these  people  that  my  cousin,  my  only  friend  in  this 
strange  land,  the  model  son  of  my  mother's  sister,  is  my 
paramour.  He  has  been  publicly  defamed  and  grossly 
insulted  in  this  court  by  eminent  counsel,  with  the  ap- 
proval or,  at  least,  acquiescence  of  the  court  in  being  dis- 


84  THE   PILGRIM 

dainfully  referred  to  in  the  arguments  to  the  court  and 
jury,  as  my  wet  nurse.  My  child,  sired  by  you,  sir,  flesh 
of  our  flesh  and  blood  of  our  blood,  has  been  bastardized 
by  its  own  infamous  father,  dubbed  a  waif,  borrowed  for 
the  occasion;  and  this  defendant,  your  wife,  sir,  who  was 
bred  and  reared  by  pious  parents,  and  shielded  from  even 
a  knowledge  of  such  sins  as  your  assassins  of  human 
character  paint,  is  charged  with  being  a  low,  cunning 
courtesan,  here  on  a  mischievous  mission  of  blackmail. 
Shame  on  such  venal  scoundrelism.  I  denounce  every 
charge  as  an  infamous  falsehood,  established  by  perjury. 
This  verdict  is  a  purchased  debauch.  Your  honor,  you, 
sir,  sat  there  on  that  high  pedestal,  with  the  .cap  of  jus- 
tice pulled  down  over  your  eyes,  while  the  plaintiff  ex- 
pended thousands  of  dollars  to  establish  these  false  charges, 
and  in  defiance  of  the  well  known  law  that  you  should 
require  the  plaintiff  to  put  up  such  funds  as  would  en- 
.able  me  to  be  his  equal  in  this  legal  contest.  You  de- 
creed me  the  paltry  sum  of  fifty  dollars,  in  the  fair  name 
of  justice  and  equality,  when  you  knew  my  husband  was 
spending  thousands  of  dollars  in  prosecuting  me. 

"You,  sir,  saw  four  most  experienced  and  astute 
lawyers  mercilessly  prosecuting  me,  and  an  inexperienced 
school-boy  floundering  around  trying  to  defend  me,  and 
then,  sir,  you  sat  up  here  with  a  straight  face  and  talked 
about  my  having  a  fair  and  impartial  trial  before  a  jury 
of  peers,  when  you  knew  that  justice  was  being  mocked. 
Can  it  be  possible  that  an  invidious  distinction  has  been 
made  against  wives  in  alleged  courts  of  justice  so  long, 
that  the  judicial  horoscope  has  been  shifted  to  so  oblique 
an  angle,  that  this  defendant,  struggling  here  with  a 
thirty-five'dollar  school-boy  as  her  only  defender,  against 
the  plaintiff  and  four  most  eminent  and  experienced  at- 


AND   THE   PIONEER  »        85 

torneys,  costing  thousands  of  dollars,  photographs  itself 
on  your  honor's  distorted  judicial  vision  as  a  completely 
balanced  equation? 

"Is  it  possible  that  usage  makes  such  a  slave  of  the 
mind,  and  that  these  cruel  practices  have  run  so  long, 
that  the  one-sided  development  of  the  judicial  intellect  is 
ultimately  overwhelmed  with  sex  blindness  ?  Yes,  I  ap- 
prehend that  my  husband  will  wine  and  dine  your  honor 
this  evening,  in  honor  of  your  matchless  judicial  impartial- 
ity. Doubtless,  usage  has  so  seasoned  you  to  the  mis- 
carriage of  justice  that  you  will  sleep  your  allotted  eight 
hours  tonight  without  a  livery  of  horrible  night-mares 
chasing  your  polluted  conscience  to  bay. 

"Out  with  this  driveling  cant  and  pretentious  holi- 
ness, ever  shrouding  the  alleged  sacred  sanctuaries  of 
justice,  where  cash  and  venality,  rather  than  rectitude, 
prevail. 

"Sir,  your  honor,  you,  sir,  have  willingly  permitted, 
yea  encouraged,  the  polluting  of  my  innocent  and  honored 
cousin's  good  name,  and  the  bastardizing  of  my  innocent 
babe,  born  in  holy  wedlock  and  sired  by  this  infamous 
plaintiff;  and  my  good  name  has  been  dragged  in  the  cess- 
pool of  corruption  here  with  your  complacent  acquiescence. 

"Why  should  not  my  husband  and  the  like  of  him, 
whose  cash  and  nefarious  villainy  always  succeed  in 
wrenching  from  these  pretentious,  sacred  precincts  favor- 
able verdicts,  be  ever  defending  the  judiciary  ?  It  is  the 
like  of  my  husband — the  like  of  you,  sir — that  ever  hold 
up  trembling  hands  in  holy  horror  if  anv  crushed  vic- 
tim deigns  to  criticise  the  vile  machinations  of  infamy 
that  are  consummated  here  in  the  name  of  justice.  This 
is  a  den  of  inhuman  debauch.  This  is  your  forum  where 
you  can  get  judicial  approval  of  your  infamous  rapine." 


86  THE   PILGRIM 

The  audience  arose  and  said,  "Give  her  a  new  trial, 
and  an  equal  allowance  with  the  husband.  She  has  been 
outraged." 

The  very  much  embarrassed  judge  quietly  said, 
"Sheriff,  adjourn  the  court,"  and  during  the  pandemo- 
nium, he  slipped  out  the  side  door  and  away  to  his 
chambers,  where  he  solemnly  meditated  on  the  sharp 
castigation  he  had  received  from  the  outraged  defendant. 
He  saw  the  whole  situation  now.  The  young  judge  was 
honest,  and  thought  as  the  case  proceeded  that  every  one 
was  having  a  fair  and  impartial  trial.  He  had  been  en- 
lightened. 

The  judge  visited  the  defendant's  attorney  and  gave 
him  a  hint  to  renew  his  motion  for  a  new  trial.  Notice 
was  given  at  once,  and  upon  re-argument  the  next  morning, 
the  judge  set  the  verdict  aside  and  granted  a  new  trial. 
He  did  not  have  the  sweet  sleep  foreshadowed,  succeed- 
ing the  arraignment  of  the  eloquent  defendant.  The  mis- 
fortune of  the  judge  was  that  the  eminent  attorneys  of 
the  plaintiff  had  swept  him  off  his  feet  with  the  jury. 

The  disgusted  Wickham  said  within  himself:  "The 
woman's  condition  and  story  have  convinced  me  that  T 
have  committed  a  dangerous  error  in  disposing  of  my 
estate.  I  have  taken  unwittingly  the  desperate  chances 
of  giving  my  estate  to  my  sons-in-law  instead  of  to  my 
daughters.  I  have,  unfortunately,  made  my  daughters, 
instead  of  my  sons-in-law,  dependents.  Had  I  heard  this 
defendant's  sad  story  before  I  made  this  disposal  of  my 
effects,  I  certainly  should  have  made  my  daughters  the 
independent  ones.  However,  I  have  that  strongest  of  all 
adhesive  qualities  of  the  heart,  on  my  side,  the  gratitude 
of  my  sons-in-law,  and  T  had  the  mortal  dread  of  the 
eccentricities  of  that  alien  blood.  I  had  not  the  assur- 


AND  THE   PIONEER  87 

ance  that  my  daughters  would  not  in  time  abandon  these 
comfortable  surroundings  and  return  to  the  wild  haunts 
of  their  mother.  Yes,  it  is  better  as  it  is." 

At  supper  Mr.  McCollough  inquired,  "Mr.  Wickham, 
what  did  you  think  of  that  philippic?" 

"It  was  a  real  baptism  in  the  oily  pool  of  linguistic 
poses,"  replied  Mr.  Wickham,  "but  was  the  speech  in 
harmony  with  the  dictates  of  justice?  Could  not,  and 
would  not,  the  same  advocate  have  crucified  the  plaintiff 
in  withering  sarcasm  if  he  had  gotten  the  defendant's 
instead  of  the  plaintiff's  retainer?  Were  those  beautiful 
flowers  the  spontaneous  product  of  the  soil  ?  Did  they 
have  the  fragrance  and  perfume  of  the  morning?  ISTo, 
my  friend,  you  were  carried  away  with  your  star.  Had 
he  been  for  the  defendant  and  had  he  blistered  the 
plaintiff  with  withering  epithets,  you  would  have  been  in 
unison  with  him  there.  Those  flowers  were  artificial  and 
odorless,  not  a  growth  of  the  heart,  but  the  product  only  of 
the  %  sordid  pocket  book.  They  had  the  musty  perfume 
of  the  corrupt  bribe.  They  do  not  bud,  bloom,  decay, 
rest,  and  come  again  in  their  season,  fresh,  cheerful,  and 
fragrant,  but  are  stale,  lifeless,  insipid  imitations  of  the 
genuine,  that  are  used  to  beguile  and  deceive,  in  and 
out  of  season;  are  used  in  a  wedding  triumphal  arch  or 
to  decorate  the  bier  of  the  dead,  just  according  to  the 
prospective  profits.  These  magnificent  powers  of  speech 
are  put  upon  the  market  and  auctioned  off  to  the  highest 
bidder  the  same  as  a  bag  of  potatoes,  turnips,  or  other 
common  commodities  of  bargain  and  sale;  such  gifts  of 
nature  would  be  admirable  indeed  if  used  as  God  intended 
they  should  be,  for  developing  justice  and  equality,  and 
for  the  general  uplifting  of  mankind;  but  aggregate  greed 
and  the  despoilers  of  justice  hire  these  sublime  gifts  for 


88  THE  PILGRIM 

the  oppression  of  man,  and  make  them  deplorable  im- 
plements of  evil,  and  a  curse,  instead  of  a  blessing,  to  the 
world.  They  are  hired  to  convict  or  exculpate  the  mur- 
derer, or  to  convict  the  innocent,  just  according  to  the 
price  bid;  and  because  of  the  abuses  of  such  gifts  one 
can  be  proud  of  the  possibilities  rather  than  of  the  achieve- 
ments of  such  powers. 

"The  so-called  court  of  justice,  under  the  prevailing 
system,  is  just  as  subservient  to  the  longest  pocket  book 
as  is  a  gambling  stock  board,  or  the  ordinary,  without 
limit,  gambling  game. 

"If  the  plaintiff  and  defendant  in  this  case  had  ex- 
changed financial  conditions  and  attorneys,  the  jury  would 
not  only  have  found  a  verdict  for  the  defendant,  but  these 
attorneys  would  have  had  the  people  so  infuriated  at  the 
plaintiff's  brutal  conduct  toward  her,  that  they  would 
probably  have  ridden  him  out  of  town  on  a  rail. 

"Great  ability,  powers  of  logic,  rhetoric,  and  magnet- 
ism, are  constantly  inducing  men  to  buy  lightning  rods 
and  insurance  policies,  and  to  make  other  bad  bargains 
against  their  real  wishes.  We  read  biographies  of  one  great 
criminal  lawyer  after  another,  showing  that  in  his  defense 
of  hundreds  of  the  most  murderous  wretches  on  earth,  he 
never  had  a  client  hung.  This  is  intended  as  a  professional 
compliment,  but  it  is  a  terrible  indictment  of  the  judicial 
system.  What  does  this  signify  ?  It  means  this,  that  no 
one  could  engage  this  man  of  marvelous  powers  for  less 
than  from  twenty-five  hundred  to  ten  thousand  dollars 
for  a  defense,  hence  none  but  the  rich  could  employ  him, 
and  therefore  the  rich  need  not  suffer  the  penalty  of 
death,  though  they  murder.  The  poor  man  who  cannot 
employ  such  an  exculpator  of  criminals  must  hang. 

"Biographers  are  constantly  writing  up  great  lawyers 


AND   THE   PIONEER  89 

in  the  civil  branch  who  have  rarely  lost  a  case,  but  it 
took  from  two  hundred  and  fifty  to  five  hundred  dollars 
per  day  to  engage  such  services,  hence  none  but  the  rich 
could  employ  them,  therefore  the  rich  rarely  lost  their 
suits,  and  therefore  the  poor  must  have  lost  theirs. 

"In  modern  practice  of  law,  what  is  now  known  as 
expert  evidence,  maps,  drawings,  and  models,  wield  a  great 
influence.  These  experts  charge  from  fifty  to  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  dollars  per  day  for  their  services,  and  it 
has  become  notorious  that  the  expert  witness  becomes  a 
special  counsel,  as  it  were,  and  is  as  desperate  a 
partisan  for  the  litigant  that  pays  him,  as  is  the  gen- 
eral counsel.  Only  the  opulent  can  have  these  high  priced 
witnesses,  maps,  and  drawings,  hence  their  great  advan- 
tage in  their  suits. 

"All  that  can  be  said  for  the  present  system  is,  that 
it  is  the  best  so  far  reduced  to  a  science;  but  there  are 
so  many  advantages  in  favor  of  the  rich,  that  a  verdict 
or  judgment  is  not  even  entitled  to  a  presumption  that 
justice  has  prevailed,  until  the  characters  o£  the  witnesses 
and  attorneys  used  on  the  respective  sides  are  examined. 

"Just  see  what  power  the  indignant  outburst  of  the 
defendant  had  on  the  judge  and  the  people.  They  had 
not  seen  the  inhuman  advantage  taken  of  her  by  the  plain- 
tiff or  the  judicial  oppression  that  was  weighing  her  down, 
until  in  her  desperation  she  laid' everything  bare. 

"Suppose  she  had  possessed  less  ability,  power  of 
expression,  or  womanly  spirit,  and  had  kept  quiet.  Even 
the  judge  would  never  have  suspected  that  a  judicial  out- 
rage had  been  perpetrated  in  the  solemn  and  pretentious 
name  of  justice." 

"I  observe,  Mr.  Wickham,"  interrupted  Mr.  McCol- 
•lough  at  this  point,  "that  your  change  of  scenes  has  not 


90  THE   PILGRIM 

dried  up  the  springs  of  pessimism  in  you,  or  changed  your 
belief  in  the  utter  depravity  of  mankind. 

"You  are  constantly  mistaking  the  spirit  of  true  op- 
timism for  the  inert,  well-enough  doctrine  of  energyless 
and  unambitious  pessimism.  The  true  optimist  is  never 
contented  with  present  conditions,  but  regards  them  as 
ephemeral,  and  he  hopefully  plunges  into  an  effort  to  de- 
stroy and  replace  them  with  higher  orders.  Optimism 
runs  in  the  same  orbit  with  evolution.  I  believe  in  the 
total  depravity  of  mankind." 

"Now  that  is  the  very  thing  I  do  not  believe  in," 
replied  Mr.  Wickham.  "I  believe  the  masses  of  the 
people  are  honest,  but  they  are  not  versed  in  a  knowl- 
edge of  human  nature.  Their  leadership  is  bad,  but 
they  seem  unable  to  detect  or  correct  it;  that  is  my 
complaint  of  the  people  in  general  and  of  those  in  this 
town  in  particular.  You  are  unquestionably  governed 
here  by  the  alloy  or  baser  element  of  the  body  politic, 
and  the  masses  seem  to  be  oblivious  of  it.  The  legal 
scavenger  or  shyster  is  trying  your  law  suits,  while  your 
genuine  lawyers  are  waiting  in  their  offices  for  clients; 
the  fake  or  quack  physician  is  doctoring  your  sick,  while 
your  good  physicians  are  sitting  patiently  waiting  for 
you  to  detect  the  counterfeit;  men  without  property,  busi- 
ness capacity,  or  strong  character  are  filling  your  offices, 
while  the  tax  payers  are  footing  the  bills  as  far  as'  they 
can,  and  watching  the  unnecessary  and  criminal  burden 
of  a  great  indebtedness  pile  upon  their  property,  upon 
their  children  and  grandchildren,  to  harass  them  and 
absorb  their  hard  labor  and  savings  for  a  half  century 
with  absolutely  nothing  but  the  monumental  folly  of  these 
fallacious  selections  to  show  for  it.  Of  course  this  dross 
will,  in  a  measure,  float  off  ere  long,  and  the  sterling 


AND  THE  PIONEER  91 

element  will  assume  control  of  the  government,  but  not 
till  these  great  burdens  are  fastened  upon  them  every- 
where that  a  great  swarm  of  pilgrims  settle  and  estab- 
lish a  municipal  government.  It  is  because  these  lighter 
and  less  substantial  elements  of  society  drift  to  the  front 
and  top,  assume  a  great  familiarity  with  their  fellows, 
lock  arms  with  them  as  they  move  up  the  street,  and 
constantly  drench  their  ears  with  the  soft  rose  water  of 
fulsome  flattery,  and  thereby  convince  them  that  these 
false  pretenders  were  created  really  to  govern  their  fel- 
lows, while  their  every  act  exhibits  the  Earmarks  of  the 
faker.  Will  the  electors  of  this  earth  never  learn  that  the 
modest,  retiring  disposition  bespeaks  true  merit  and 
sterling  worth,  while  the  officious,  obtruding,  ever  flatter- 
ing individual  presents  a  true  indication  of  the  general 
faker  or  of  the  professional  gormandizer  at  the  public  crib  ?" 

"I  suppose,  Mr.  Wickham,  that  you  detect  a  great 
improvement  in  the  county  court  atmosphere,,  as  con- 
trasted with  the  putrid  filth  of  the  justice  court,"  said 
Mr.  McCollough. 

"Now,  my  friend,  I  really  feel  my  weakness — I  do 
not  think  that  I  have  the  courage  to  express  my  convic- 
tions, lest  you  should  conclude  me  pestiferously  hypocriti- 
cal. Will  you  excuse  my  weakness  if  I  reply  by  stating 
a  few  facts,  and  leave  you  to  draw. your  own  conclusions? 
In  the  former  court,  a  petty  justice  and  constable  in- 
trusted by  the  public  with  petty  matters,  attached  the 
team  of  a  citizen,  well  on  his  way  out  of  the  state,  for 
a  petty  sum  of  $7  on  the  assumption  that  he  would  prefer 
to  pay  rather  than  return.  This  is  a  despicable  system  of 
petty  blackmail  that  is  disgusting. 

"In  the  county  court  we  find  that  an  aged  rich  man 
has  married  a  poor  but  beautiful  young  woman;  that 


92  THE   PILGRIM 

she  loved  a  young  man,  but  married  the  rich  one;  nat- 
ural result,  application  for  divorce  by  jealous  husband, 
opposition  of  wife,  not  because  she  wants  to  live  with 
him,  but  wants  a  handsome  share  of  his  property  with- 
out the  torture  of  this  unnatural  life.  The  plaintiff  re- 
sorted to  every  art  that  his  wealth  could  invent  to  win. 
Even  a  beautiful  cherub  boy  was  brought  in  for  a  share — 
the  reputed  father  denied  his  fatherhood  or  defendant's 
motherhood,  and  insisted  that  it  was  a  waif  secured  for 
the  occasion,  the  other  insisting  that  it  was  the  offspring 
of  the  twain;  the  one  contradicted  everything  the  other 
said,  yet  both  were  under  oath. 

"You  should  not  take  a  little  veneering  for  a  genuine 
article.  The  fact  that  a  crime  is  gilded,  artistic,and  of  mag- 
nificent proportions  often  conceals  from  a  casual  observer 
the  turpitude  involved.  The  golden  scales  should  be 
lifted,  and  the  very  essence  of  the  inner  ingredients  ex- 
amined. When  Mark  Twain  said,  'The  government  snubs 
honest  simplicity,  but  fondles  artistic  villainy,'  he  limited 
a  universal  rule  of  dominant  forces  to  the  heads  of  the 
departments  of  our  government.  If  one  people  murders 
another  by  wholesale,  confiscates  its  ships,  its  goods,  and 
its  country,  if  a  money  king  wrecks  a  great  railroad  or 
other  mammoth  institution,  and  takes  it  in  at  one  fell 
swoop,  the  grand  proportions  of  the  murder  or  the  au- 
dacity of  the  act  so  dazzle  and  awe-inspire  the  individual 
citizen  that  he  is  unable  to  see  the  underlying  crime, 
though  its  polluting  stench  smell  to  heaven.  Yet  he 
will  send  a  petty  thief  to  prison  or  condemn  to  death  the 
individual  murderer. 

"Now,  I  do  not  say  that  that  young  woman  should 
live  with  this  old  jnan ;  that  would  be  a  crime  against 
nature.  Nature  never  intended  that  the  warmth  of  May 


AND  THE   PIONEER  93 

should  be  chilled  in  the  cold  arms  of  December ;  but  May 
sold  herself  to  December  for  a  part  of  his  wealth,  and 
now  loathes  his  clammy  touch,  but  shrinks  from  yielding 
up  the  purchase  price.  It  is  as  utterly  impossible  to 
harmonize  young  and  old  blood  in  marriage  as  it  is  to 
mix  oil  and  water,  and  the  constant  sale  of  young  girls 
to  old  men  is .  not  only  polluting  our  courts  of  justice 
with  the  settlement  of  crimes  that  these  unnatural  alli- 
ances breed,  but  it  makes  the  family  hearthstone — the 
very  bulwark  of  the  higher  civilization — the  hotbed  of 
intrigue  and  decaying  chastity,  within  the  holy  domain 
of  wedlock.  The  fact  that  the  plaintiff  held  the  pocket 
book,  and  had  the  cherub  little  waif  legally  pro- 
nounced fatherless  and  motherless  and  brought  here  on  a 
mischievious,  mercenary  mission,  and  obtained  a  verdict 
in  this  man-ridden  community  against  the  powerful  in- 
fluence of  this  beautiful  and  dramatic  woman  and  her 
skillful  and  eloquent  young  attorney,  would  indicate  'that 
Mammon  still  wins  its  way  where  seraphs  might  despair.' ' 

As  the  first  of  June  approached,  the  floating  popula- 
tion of  every  class,  and  many  officials,  gathered  their  trap- 
pings and  started  for  Baker's  Park  and  the  Summit, 
many  of  them  never  to  return;  but  Del  Norte  and  the 
great  San  Luis  Valley  kept  unfolding,  till  now  this 
beautiful  valley  is  the  great  granary  of  the  arid  domain, 
and  Del  Norte  has  developed  into  a  well-built  town  of 
stone  and  brick.  Early  in  1874  the  people  of  Saguache 
on  the  Saguache  River  began  the  building  of  the  Saguache 
and  San  Juan  wagon  toll  road  to  these  mines,  and  be- 
gan a  very  vigorous  system  of  advertising  Saguache  as  the 
gate-way  to  the  great  San  Juan  mines. 

Mr.  Wickham  remarked,  "Well,  Mr.  McCollough,  I 
have  persuaded  Mr.  Campbell  that  pilgrim  rule  in  Del 


94  THE   PILGRIM 

Norte  is  now  going  into  the  'sere  and  yellow  leaf;'  that  the 
real  friends  of  the  town  will  get  to  the  helm  and  steer 
it  into  the  harbor  of  safety,  and  that  the  irritable  opti- 
mist will  find  nothing  to  feed  upon  now,  and  he  reads 
in  the  papers  that  the  feed  for  him  promises  good  at 
your  sister  town  of  Saguache;  therefore,  at  the  first  op- 
portunity Mr.  Campbell  and  he  shall  silently  fold  their 
tents  and  go  thither,  I  suppose  to  the  great  delight  of 
their  many  wearied  auditors." 

"Mr.  Wickham,"  replied  Mr.  McCollough,  "with  all 
sincerity,  1  unhesitatingly  say  that  no  one  has  ever  de- 
parted from  here  that  I  have  missed  as  I  shall  miss  you. 
When  I  first  met  you  I  really  thought  you  a  little  daft — 
that  you  were  embittered  against  the  world,  and  could  see 
no  good  in  anything.  Every  ideal  I  suggested  to  you  was 
picked  threadbare.  But  I  soon  learned  that  I  was  only 
looking  on  the  surface,  and  considered  everything  gold 
that  glittered.  You  are  the  first  schoolmaster  I  ever  had 
who  taught  me  the  advantage  of  taking  things  to  pieces  and 
examining  all  of  the  parts.  I  had  never  studied  the 
motives  of  men,  but  believed  every  one  honest,  and  that 
the  complainers  were  troublesome  busybodies;  but  you 
have  lifted  the  scales  from  my  eyes  and  destroyed  many 
of  my  idols/' 

"Well,"  said  Mr.  Wickham,  "that  is  the  greatest 
stumbling  block  in  the  pathway  of  reform.  The  mother 
of  prejudice  is  a  lack  of  knowledge.  If  people  could  be 
induced  patiently  to  investigate  existing  conditions,  they 
would  select  worthy  representatives  of  the  people  who 
would  correct  our  public  evils.  As  it  is,  we  have  self- 
selected  representatives,  or  those  chosen  by  some  great 
interest,  who  seldom  consider  the  public  weal,  but  are 


AND  THE  PIONEER  95 

ever  alert  to  barter  away  the  sovereign  rights  of  the  peo- 
ple to  private  persons  or  corporations,  to  the  great  injury 
of  the  public. 

"But  these  things  are  all  righted  in  time.  Presi- 
dent Jackson,  the  optimistic  soldier  and  statesman,  en- 
thusiastically said,  There  are.no  necessary  public  evils.' ' 

Late  in  the  evening,  Mr.  Wickham  and  Mr.  Camp- 
bell took  a  stroll  down  the  main  street,  and  were  soon 
attracted  by  screams  coming  from  the  upper  story  of  the 
dance  hall  building.  An  inhabitant  told  them  that  can- 
didates were  being  initiated  into  the  "Old  Settlers'  So- 
ciety." As  they  reached  the  place  they  could  see  the  halls 
above  and  below  brilliantly  lighted,  and  inspiring  music 
and  many  gay  dancers  had  attracted'  a  large  crowd  to 
the  lower  hall.  When  they  reached  the  threshhold  of 
the  door,  two  men  in  grotesque  uniforms  with  drawn 
swords  marched  a  small  black  Russian  Jew  into  the  hall, 
with  a  ten  gallon  keg  of  beer  on  his  shoulder.  They  were 
informed  that  he  had  just  made  some  penal  blunder  in 
his  initiation  ceremonies,  and  that  the  High  Muck-a-Muck 
had  fined  him  ten  gallons  of  drinkable  beer,  and  had  sent 
two  officers  with  him  to  see  that  the  purchase  and  -de- 
livery were  faithfully  and  speedily  made.  When  the  Jew 
reached  the  foot  of  the  stairway  he  laid  down  his  burden, 
and  one  of  the  guards  ascended  the  stairs  to  see  if  the 
High  Muck-a-Muck  was  ready  to  receive  them.  As  Mr. 
Wickham  and  Mr.  Campbell  reached  the  foot  of  the  stairs, 
they  came  within  plain  view  of  the  dancing  platform. 
M  r.  Campbell  automatically  removed  his  hat  and  put  it 
under  his  arm,  out  of  respect  for  the  ladies.  Contempo- 
raneously with  this  gallant  deportment,  all  eyes  were 
focused  on  him  and  every  one  was  giggling.  He  knew 
his  bare  head  had  something  to  do  with  this,  as  all  others 


96  THE  PILGRIM 

were  wearing  their  hats.  At  the  end  of  the  quadrille, 
instead  of  the  usual  call,  "partners  to  their  seats,"  it  was, 
"partners  to  the  bar.'\  Under  the  regulations  of  this  par- 
ticular institution,  at  the  end  of  each  dance,  each  male 
paid  for  two  drinks  or  two  cigars,  and  the  female  could 
drink,  or  if  she  did  not,  the  proprietor  would  give  her  an 
agreed  percentage  on  the  value  of  the  drink  earned  and 
not  consumed.  After  all  were  served  at  the  bar,  the 
caller  cried  out,  "Get  your  partners  for  the  next  dance." 
The  women  did  the  soliciting.  A  good  looking  young 
woman  tripped  over  to  Mr.  Campbell  and  said,  "Come 
and  dance  with  me  this  time."  He  replied,  "No,  my  church 
does  not  allow  us  to  dance."  "If  you  have  a  church,  I 
don't  know  what  the  devil  you  are  do-ing  here."  She 
chucked  him  under  the  chin  and  said,  "Sonny,  you  had 
better  go  back  to  your  mamma,  for  you  are  the  most  un- 
sophisticated tenderfoot  that  ever  strolled  in  here.  '  Mr. 
Campbell  meekly  walked  over  to  Mr.  Wickham  and  in- 
formed him  that  he  was  tired  and  would  go  home  and  go 
to  bed,  if  the  latter  would  excuse  him.  "I  shall  go  with 
you,  I  have  had  quite  enough  of  this." 

When  they  reached  the  hotel  Mr.  Wickham  began 
reading  the  papers,  and  the  clerk  showed  Mr.  Campbell 
to  a  room  with  two  beds,  in  one  of  which  some  individual 
was  ensconced  in  a  roaring,  innocent  snore.  As  Mr. 
Campbell  rolled  and  tossed  in  his  bed,  half  frenzied  by 
the  droves  of  nightmares  emerging  from  the  many  hu- 
miliations of  the  day,  he  began  to  lose  faith  in  Mr.  Wick- 
ham. He  said  to  himself,  "Old  Tennessee  is  certainly  not 
a  half  century  behind  in  the  modesty  of  her  women  or 
gallantry  of  her  men.  Who  ever  saw  a  ball  in  Tennessee 
where  the  women  solicited  the  partners,  and  drank  at  the 


AND  THE   PIONEER  97 

bar,  and  where  men  with  hats  on  and  in  their  dirty  shirt 
sleeves,  boldly  danced  with  the  ladies." 

By  and  by  the  clerk  ushered  in  the  black  Russian 
Jew  and  said,  "You  will  sleep  there  with  your  friend." 
His  friend  ceased  snoring,  and  asked,  "How  was  the 
old  settlers'  meeting?"  The  Jew  replied,  "The  High 
Muck-a-Muck  set  a  trap  for  me  in  my  initiation,  and  I 
valked  into  it;  he  vined  me  ten  gallons  of  beer,  they  all 
got  trunk,  and  ve  had  bushels  of  vun ;  but,  by  shimminy/' 
continued  the  Jew,  "the  vunniest  ding  I  ever  saw  vas 
a  long,  lank,  sorefoot  vrom  Tennessee —  '  "A  tenderfoot 
you  mean,"  interrupted  his  friend.  "Ya,  ya,  dats  vot 
I  told  you,"  said  the  Jew.  "Dat  sorefoot  vas  a  young- 
boy  growing  out  of  his  clothes;  his  coat  sleeves  vos  'alf 
vay  up  to  his  helboes,  his  bants  'alf  vay  to  his  knees, 
his  behind  buttons  hon  his  coat,  between  his  shoulders, 
han  he  jerked  hoff  his  hat,  han  put  it  hunder  his  harm 
hout  hof  respect  for  the  dance  house  girls.  By  shimminy, 
hit  vas  vunny."  The  two  men  laughed  long  and  loud 
about  the  "sorefoot." 

Mr.  Campbell  was  becoming  desperate  and  had  de- 
termined to  ask  Mr.  Wickham  the  next  morning  about 
the  superiority  of  Colorado  society  in  general,  and  about 
the  unbecoming  conduct  of  both  men  and  women  at  the 
ball. 

The  next  morning  at  breakfast  Mr.  Campbell  said, 
"Mr.  Wickham,  I  don't  think  Tennessee  is  a  half  century 
behind  Colorado  in  the  modesty  and  refinement  of  her 
women,  or  in  the  courtesy  and  gallantry  of  her  men,  if 
those  at  the  ball  last  night  were  a  fair  sample  of  Colo- 
rado society."  Mr.  Wickham  answered,  "I  am  glad  you 
have  spoken  of  this  so  early.  I  saw  by  the  way  you 
bared  your  head  out  of  respect  for  those  hardened  women 


THK  I'll.*; KIM.— 7 


98  THE  PILGRIM 

that  you  did  not  understand  this  place.  We  should  not 
have  been  there,  but  the  agonizing  screams,  and  the  black 
Jew  with  the  keg  of  beer  between  the  two  guards,  enter- 
ing there,  caused  my  curiosity  to  outrun  my  better  judg- 
ment. 

"These  were  the  very  lowest  order  of  scarlet  women 
for  whom  nobody  has  any  respect.  This  is  why  all  eyes 
were  turned  upon  you  when  you  removed  your  hat  out 
of  respect  for  them."  Mr.  Campbell  remained  silent 
and  placed  his  hands  over  his  face  to  hide  his  humiliation. 
Mr.  Wickham  came  near  bursting  into  tears,  went  to  the 
window  and  aimlessly  looked  out  upon  the  cheerless  sage- 
brush for  a  moment,  then  said  to  himself,  "What  a  change 
has  come  over  me.  Oh,  this  dispiriting  humiliation !  This 
common  slough  of  despond  has  created  an  indissoluble 
bond  of  sympathy  between  the  very  antipodes  of  pioneer 
civilization." 


CHAPTER  VI. 

A  PEBBLE  TURNED  THE  CURRENT. 

On  the  24th  of  June  John  Campbell  and  Joshua 
Wickham  entered  the  town  of  Saguache,  a  small  adobe 
village  on  the  Saguache  River  in  the  most  fertile  and 
•  best  developed  portion  of  the  matchless  San  Luis  valley. 

The  Ute  Indians  had  been  located  on  Los  Pinos 
for  many  years,  and  Saguache  had  been  their  trading  point. 
The  overflow  of  the  Saguache  River  and  the  natural  perco- 
lation through  a  great  area  of  ground  below,  had  made  the 
native  grass  grow  in  great  abundance,  and  had  attracted 
many  wealthy  cattle  and  sheep  men  to  the  valley;  also 
many  discharged  employes,  discharged  soldiers  from  the 
Indian  reservation  and  their  relatives,  had  settled  here, 
and  while  the  new  comers  had  not  secured  possession  of 
public  affairs  they  had  made  a  kind  of  a  filling  or  fertilizer 
to  the  old  blood.  There  were  also  many  old  and  reliable 
Mexican  families  with  large  herds  of  sheep  and  some 
attractive  senoritas  and  senoras  here.  There  were,  besides, 
a  liberal  number  of  pretty  and  bright  American  women  in 
the  valley.  Many  new  buildings  were  being  erected,  and 
many  business  men  were  waiting  for  rooms  in  which  to  em- 
bark in  some  unrepresented  lines  of  business.  They  were 
received  with  open  arms  by  the  old  settlers  who  showed 
them  the  things  of  public  interest,  and  gave  their  ideas  of 
this  place  as  the  real  gateway  to  the  great  San  Juan  mines. 
All  of  the  officers  of  the  town  and  county  were  of  the  ster- 
ling business  class,  and  they  were  very  vigilant  lest  in  the 
excitement  they  might  drop  into  the  ruinous  habits  of  ex- 

(99) 


100  THE  PILGRIM 

travagance  that  have  ever  been  such  a  blighting  curse  to 
the  new  settlements  of  the  developing  West.  They  owed 
no  public  debts. 

Said  Mr.  Wickham,  "I  have  jumped  from  the  frying 
pan  into  the  fire.  ISTo  healthy  pessimist  can  fatten  or 
even  hold  his  own  here.  There  is  even  too  little  to  com- 
plain of  to  give  him  an  appetite  to  hunt  for  the  trail  of 
the  dreaded  'octopus/  so  I  shall  take  a  lay  off,  live  on 
the  stimulating,  ambrosial  bread  of  smiling  optimism, 
listen  to  the  enchanting  lowing  of  the  cattle  on  a  thousand 
hills,  and  sing  decadent,  dulcet  strains  to  the  accompani- 
ment of  the  dark-eyed  senorita's  guitar,  until  the  cold 
blasts  of  winter  waft  back  my  disengaged  spell." 

Mr.  Campbell  suggested  that  he  must  go  and  invest 
in  an  overcoat,  and  asked  Joshua  to  defer  his  visit  to 
dreamland  until  he  saw  him  properly  fitted  out  with  a 
suitable  June  overcoat. 

They  marched  down  to  the  only  general  store  there  — 
that  of  Messrs.  Mayers  &  Grebles  in  an  immense  building 
— and  made  their  wishes  known.  A  very  polite,  handsome 
and  kindly  faced  old  gentleman,  who  had  had  a  long  ex- 
perience in  Kansas  City,  Santa  Fe,  Taos,  and  many  other 
places,  brought  out  two  styles.  One  a  canvas  outside 
and  lined  with  woolen  goods  for  mountain  wear,  and  the 
other  a  deep  blue  coat  with  a  ministerial  cape.  Mr.  Kil- 
lin  recommended  the  blue  coat  as  most  suitable  for  town 
wear,  and  turning  to  Mr.  Wickham,  asked,  "What  do 
you  think  about  it  ?" 

"As  my  friend  Campbell  is  an  attorney  at  law,  I 
quite  agree  with  your  choice  as  between  the  two  styles ;  he 
may  be  bothered  a  little  by  being  accosted  occasionally  by 
the  anxious  candidates  for  matrimony  or  the  despondent 
friends  of  the  sick  to  perform  ministerial  duties  of  which 


AND  THE  PIONEER  101 

he  is  not  worthy,  but  it  will  be  easier  to  explain  his  habila- 
ments  than  to  wear  one  of  these  midwinter  mountain  coats 
on  these  slightly  chilly  June  evenings;  then  it  isn't  alto- 
gether inappropriate,  as  it  is  a  professional  coat." 

Mr.  Campbell  paid  the  clerk  $20  and  kept  the  coat. 

"Ah,  so  you  are  a  lawyer?"  said  Mr.  Killin.  "You 
are  the  first  man  of  this  profession  who  has  honored  us 
with  a  visit.  You  had  better  conclude  to  stay  with  us. 
This  will  be  a  good  town  as  soon  as  the  road  is  completed 
to  the  San  Juan  mines.  Come  over  and  meet  the  proprie- 
tors of  the  store.  They  will  be  glad  to  see  you  both." 

The  party  moved  back  to  the  office  where  the  pro- 
prietors and  two  handsome,  well-dressed  young  men  were 
earnestly  discussing  some  papers  they  held  in  their  hands. 

The  polite  clerk  introduced  Mr.  Wickham  all  around, 
and  then  very  deferentially  introduced  Mr.  Campbell,  a 
member  of  the  bar,  to  the  busy  four.  The  older  one  of 
the  young  men  said,  "I  hoky,  we  need  a  member  of  the 
bar  very  badly  here.  We  have  been  trying  all  day  to 
get  up  a  partnership  agreement  to  go  into  the  hardware 
business,  and  every  time  we  would  think  we  had  it  all 
right  something  would  suggest  itself  to  one  or  the  other 
that  had  not  been  covered,  and  the  whole  thing  would 
be  kicked  over.  What  would  it  be  worth  for  you  to  draw 
us  one,  if  you  have  had  any  experience  in  such  mat- 
ters?" 

"Oh,  about  $5,"  answered  the  lawyer. 

Mr.  Gentry  remarked,  "I'll  be  glad  to  give  some  one 
$2.50  to  do  my  part  of  this." 

"So  shall  I,"  said  Mr.  Daly,  "if  this  young  man 
thinks  he  can  get  up  so  complicated  an  agreement." 

"Gentlemen,"  broke  in  Mr.  Wickham,  "excuse  my 
interference,  but  I  have  been  working  with  this  young 


102  THE  PILGRIM 

man  for  a  long  time,  and  have  always  found  him  all 
right,  whether  engaged  in  the  'taming  of  the  shrew'  or 
the  trial  of  a  lawsuit." 

The  partners  handed  him  their  draft  of  the  con- 
tract and  five  dollars,  and  asked  when  they  could  expect 
it.  He  told  them  he  would  deliver  it  at  that  office  at 
ten  o'clock  A.  M.  the  next  day.  This  greatly  relieved 
the  husy  four  and  they  drifted  into  matters  of  general 
interest,  while  Mr.  Campbell  and  Mr.  Wickham  hied 
away  to  their  room  to  prepare  the  troublesome  articles  of 
copartnership. 

Mr.  Wickham  ventured,  "I  guess  we  have  gotten  into 
deeper  water  than  we  expected  so  soon." 

"Oh  no,"  answered  Mr.  Campbell,  "that  is  easy;  the 
most  arduous  part  of  this  undertaking  is  the  penmanship." 

"I'll  gladly  do  the  writing  if  it  will  lighten  your 
labors  any." 

"Yes,  and  I  should  like  to  have  it  written  in  your 
clear  Spencerian  hand.  It  looks  so  much  better  than 
mine."  Handsome  legal  cap,  a  blue  cover,  a  bottle  of 
black  and  a  bottle  of  red  ink  were  secured,  and  Mr.  Wick- 
ham seated  himself  as  amanuensis. 

Mr.  Campbell  went  to  his  trunk  and  brought  out  a 
nice  leather  covered  volume  of  "Jenkins'  Legal  Forms 
for  the  Northwest." 

"What  are  you  going  to  do  with  that  book?"  said 
Mr.  Wickham. 

"This  is  the  legal  chisel,  the  lawyer's  jackplane,  the 
symmetrical  mould  that  will  enable  us  to  cut  out,  polish, 
and  mould  this  contract,  as  artfully  in  the  little  village  of 
Saguache  as  it  could  be  done  in  the  most  pretentious  law 
office  in  New  York  City."  He  opened  it  at  set  formulas 
for  copartnership  agreements,  and  there  was  a  short  and 


AND  THE  PIONEER  103 

a  long  form,  one  or  the  other  of  which  was  used  in  most 
important  partnerships  all  over  the  world. 

Mr.  Wickham  looked  over  them  and  said:  "Well 
sir,  that  long  one  is  a  thing  of  beauty,  and  its  discovery 
will  be  a  joy  to  us  forever." 

Mr.  Campbell  suggested  that  the  short  one  would  be 
quite  adequate  in  this  case  and  would  involve  less  writing. 

"Oh,"  remarked  Mr.  Wickham,  "the  long  one  evinces 
more  legal  erudition,  and  has  more  of  the  smack  of  pro- 
fundity about  it,  and  when  you  present  it  to  your  clients 
tomorrow  they  will  feel  like  paying  you  more  for  burn- 
ing so  much  midnight  oil  in  casting  such  a  comprehen' 
sive  and  logical  form,  and  I  shall  quite  enjoy  the  writ- 
ing in  anticipation  of  the  great  surprise  this  artfully 
constructed  instrument  will  awaken  in  them." 

Mr.  Campbell  read  the  form,  even  to  paragraphing 
and  punctuation,  as  found  in  the  book,  and  filled  the  few 
blanks,  such  as  length  of  time  it  was  to  run,  the  amount 
each  party  put  in,  the  names  of  the  parties,  etc.,  every- 
thing else  being  provided  for  in  the  formula.  It  was  soon 
finished,  put  in  a  nice  blue  cover,  entitled  on  the  outside, 
enclosed  in  an  envelope  and  addressed  to  Messrs.  Gentry  & 
Daly,  City,  then  laid  on  the  table  for  delivery  next  morn- 
ing, and  the  happy  drafters  retired  with  complete  content- 
ment for  the  night. 

At  ten  o'clock  the  next  day  Mr.  Campbell  delivered 
the  agreement  to  the  bookkeeper  at  the  store,  with  instruc- 
tions to  hand  it  to  the  new  firm  and  tell  them  that  if  any- 
thing was  wrong  he  would  be  at  the  hotel  and  would  gladly 
correct  it  on  being  notified. 

About  eight  o'clock  that  evening  as  Mr.  Wickham  was 
passing  by  the  store,  Mr.  Mayers  beckoned  him  to  come  in. 
He  went  back  to  the  office,  and  found  these  same  four 


104  THE  PILGRIM 

gentlemen  — Messrs.  Mayers,  Grebles,  Gentry,  &  Daly — 
with  the  new  agreement  spread  out  before  them. 
Mr.  Wickham  said,  "What,  is  there  something  wrong 
with  the  agreement?"  Mr.  Mayers  raised  his  eyes 
and  exclaimed,  "Wrong!  wrong!  well  I  should  think 
not.  W'y,  Mr.  Wickham,  by  shimminy,  if  that  agreement 
don't  anticipate  and  provide  against  all  of  the  possible 
mistakes  or  misunderstandings  of  a  whole  life  time.  What 
I  called  you  in  for  is  to  learn  who  this  young  man  is, 
and  how  on  earth  he  ever  crowded  so  much  legal  informa- 
tion into  so  young  a  head  ?  By  shimminy,  it  was  worth  a 
hundred  dollars  to  work  up  such  a  contract  as  that."  They 
all  joined  in  pronouncing  it  a  marvelous  piece  of  work. 

"I  met  him  by  chance,"  said  Mr.  Wickham,  "as  he 
was  coming  into  the  country  and  have  become  attracted 
to  him,  but  really  know  nothing  of  his  antecedents,  as  he 
never  parades  his  personal  affairs  before  others;  but  I 
think  he  is  all  right." 

"We  must  keep  him  here,  that's  all,"  declared  Mr. 
Mayers.  "He  can't  go  away." 

The  county  commissioners  were  in  session,  and  Mr. 
Mayers  went  to  them  and  suggested: 

"The  immigration  and  new  questions  arising  make 
it  advisable  that  you  have  a  county  attorney,  and  by 
spending  $50  a  month  for  legal  advice  you  would  prob- 
ably save  $200  per  month."  He  also  said  that  such  a 
thing  was  imperative  under  the  new  conditions.  They 
agreed  with  him  in  the  desirability,  but  inquired,  "Where 
can  we  find  the  suitable  person?" 

Mr.  Mayers  related  the  wonderful  story  about  the 
partnership  agreement,  the  order  was  passed  to  appoint  an 
attorney  and  the  only  name  presented  was  that  of  Mr. 
Campbell;  he  accepted,  and  as  practically  the  same  thing 


AND  THE   PIONEER  105 

occurred  with  the  town,  he  immediately  had  his  hands 
full. 

The  county  furnished  him  a  statute,  and  he  took  it 
to  his  room  and  was  absorbed  in  fastening  the  duties  of 
a  county  attorney  in  particular  and  county  officers  in  gen- 
eral in  his  memory  when  Mr.  Wickham  appeared  and 
said: 

"What,  have  you  a  charter  for  some  great  railroad 
to  the  moon  to  draw  that  ytm  are  appealing  to  that  magical 
looking  book  again  ?" 

"No,  I  have  been  appointed  town  and  county  attor- 
ney and  this  is  the  State  Statute  from  which  I  must  learn 
my  duties." 

"Well,  well,  'great  oaks  from  little  acorns  grow.'  I 
haven't  moralized  since  T  left  Mr.  McCollough  at  the  Grand 
Central,  so  you  must  excuse  me  if  I  deliver  a  short  homily 
this  evening  on  the  momentous  subject,  'A  small  pebble 
may  change  the  course  of  a  mighty  river.' 

"Think  of  the  number  of  little  links,  the  loss  of  any 
one  of  which  would  have  prevented  you  from  drawing  that 
contract ;  if  you  had  failed  to  buy  that  book,  or  had  for- 
gotten to  bring  it,  or  had  used  the  shorter  and  less  pre- 
tentious form,  or  if  it  had  not  been  shown  to  Mr.  Mayers, 
you  would  not  have  been  county  or  town  attorney,  would 
have  drifted  away,  and  the  entire  course  of  your  life  would 
have  been  changed,  whether  for  the  better  or  worse  no  one 
can  tell." 

Mr.  Campbell  remained  incessantly  at  his  statutes 
for  six  weeks  and  was  little  company  to  any  one,  when 
Mr.  Wiekham  re-appeared  and  began: 

"Mr.  Campbell,  my  waste  gates  have  been  choked  up 
for  a  number  of  weeks,  and  I  must  now  give  vent  to  my 
stored  energies.  I  shall,  as  the  reigning  optimist  pro  tern 


106  THE  PILGRIM 

of  the  laughing  blue  waters  of  the  Saguache  deign  this 
morning  to  sermonize  you  on  the  deleterious  effects  of 
wasted  brain  tissue.  Do  you  not  know  that  in  time 
this  ever  absorbing  mental  application  will  cause  the 
candles  of  the  phosphatic  fires  to  burn  out,  and  leave  you 
mentally  like  the  foolish  virgins  who  forgot  to  fill  their 
lamps  with  oil,  or  you  will  be  found  desolately  groping 
around  in  mental  darkness,  and  like  a  dethroned  Ajax 
you  will  cry  for  more  light  ? 

"You  should  drop  these  books,  take  your  gun  and 
challenge  the  cunning  wild  duck  in  her  flight,  hunt  the 
hilly  haunts  of  the  meek  wild  hare,  or  chase  the  athletic 
and  egotistical  jack-rabbit  that  you  may  catch  the  current 
of  the  departing  phosphorus  expended  in  its  swift 
flight ;  or  if  you  should  prefer  the  more  ecstatic  and  gentle 
armor  of  the  archer,  then  load  yourself  with  Cupid's 
feathery  darts  and  flee  away  to  the  halls  of  Delsarte 
and  there  bend  yourself  gently  forward,  then  backward, 
to  the  left,  to  the  right,  then  around  and  around,  at  the 
dreamy  beckoning  of  some  dark  gazelle  in  the  entrancing 
mazes  of  the  Spanish  fandango;  or,  if  that  be  too  mild 
a  remedy  for  so  great  a  spirit,  then  trip  the  light  fan- 
tastic toe  in  the  sprightly  polka  with  some  smiling,  im- 
perious American  beauty,  and  from  her  sparkling  eyes  re- 
plenish your  depleted  fuel  vats.  Excessive  mental  work, 
excessive  grief,  love,  or  worry,  will  seal  the  pigeon  holes 
of  the  memory  with  hardened  carbon  sheets  that,  until 
softened  by  some  pliable  solvent,  will  admit  no  impres- 
sions of  occurring  events. 

"The  pollen  from  the  conjugal  affections  is  almost  a 
sure  specific  for  an  impaired  and  fading  memory  caused 
by  an  excessive  mental  strain,  and  the  pollen  arising  from 
a  wholesome  exercise  of  tEe  reasoning  faculties  fertilizes 


AND  THE   PIONEER  107 

a  memory  impaired  by  excessive  love,  grief,  or  worry, 
so  if  you  desire  to  keep  your  faculties  normal  you  must 
give  each  a  reasonable  play,  or  the  neglected  ones,  with 
that  green-eyed  jealousy  permeating  all  nature,  will 
grieve  themselves  into  empty  shadows  and  weird  stalking 
apparitions  that  will  glut  their  vengeance  in  chasing  and 
worrying  the  favored  ones  into  a  hopeless  decay." 

"First/'  suggested  Mr.  Campbell,  "go  with  me  to 
the  Chronicle  office  that  I  may  announce  myself  as  an 
integral  part  of  the  body  politic,  then  I  shall  abide  by 
your  decision.  Now,  sir,  what  do  you  order  your  ward 
to  do?" 

"Lay  down  that  musty  statute,"  and  follow  me  into 
the  refreshing  ozone  beds  of  the  tinted  prairie,  or  join  me 
in  ascending  the  mountain  steeps  where  you  may  inhale 
the  resinous  aroma  of  the  pitch  pine  and  sleep  in  the 
rugged  crags  with  the  Rocky  Mountain  goat. 

"You  must  help  me  into  the  excitement  of  such 
scenes  as  will'  keep  my  thoughts  scattered.  Of  late  the 
grinding  of  my  brain  has  been  confined  to  so  narrow  a 
surface  that  I  can  distinctly  feel  calloused  creases  in 
which  everything  is  wont  to  run.  If  the  current  is  not 
kept  spread  until  these  grooves  soften  and  fill  up,  I  fear 
thoughts  emanating  from  any  portion  of  the  brain  will 
inevitably  gravitate  to  these  chasms,  and  be  prematurely 
poured  off  and  lost  forever." 


CHAPTER  VII. 

ENTREE  TO  SOCIETY. 

Mr.  Campbell  suggested  to  Mr.  Wickham,  aWe  are 
invited  to  a  house-warming  tonight  in  San  Isabel,  and 
to  a  Mexican  fandango  at  Wheaton  Hall  tomorrow  night. 
Shall  we  go?" 

Mr.  Wickham  hesitated  a  moment,  then  answered, 
"The  mind  has  worried  this  tired  body  into  an  appeal 
for  a  few  days'  truce,  and  for  the  opening  of  negotiations 
for  the  old  time  harmony.  What  a  merciless  tyrant  the 
mind  is  to  persist  in  grinding  these  cowardly,  desponding 
thoughts  through  the  helpless  brain,  keeping  it  so  in- 
flamed from  incessant  friction,  that  the  whole  body  is 
impotent.  Why  did  nature  give  the  mind  complete 
mastery  of  the  body,  instead  of  making  them  co-ordinate 
members,  that  the  body  might  protect  itself  from  the 
abuse  of  power  of  the  headlong  mind?  I  really  need 
the  excitement,  but  treachery  to  the  'Holy  Creed'  of  late 
has  disabled  me,  but  if  you  think  you  can  gather  some 
of  the  gangleonic  glame  from  the  aromatic  damsels  skirt- 
ing the  banks  of  the  San  Isabel,  you  go." 

Eight  or  ten  men  and  three  young  women  started  at 
2  P.  M.  to  drive  twenty  miles  across  the  country  to  the 
house-warming.  In  those  days  the  settlers  for  thirty 
miles  were  regarded  as  neighbors,  and  it  was  common  to 
attend  the  dances  within  these  limits. 

About  5  P.  M.  the  Saguache  contingent  reached  the 
place.  The  family  lived  in  a  dugout,  or  cellar.  The 

visitors  entered  the  new  house  situated  about  two  hun- 

(100) 


110  THE  PILGRIM 

dred  yards  from  the  dugout;  there  was  not  a  person  in 
sight  and  no  furniture  in  the  new  house  except  a  cook 
stove  and  an  ordinary  nail  keg  sitting  in  the  corner.  A 
son  of  the  minister  of  the  gospel,  a  certain  Mr.  Paine, 
was  the  rudest,  boldest,  and  most  reckless  one  of  the 
party.  He  opened  the  stove,  and  there  was  a  well  baked 
jack-rabbi-t  ready  for  the  carving  knife.  He  lifted  it 
to  the  top  of  the  stove,  carved  and  apportioned  it  out, 
and  it  soon  disappeared.  He  went  to  the  keg  in  the  cor- 
ner, and  it  was  filled  with  nice  red  apples.  He  took  one 
in  his  hand,  held  it  aloft,  and  was  telling  the  assembly 
how  it  grew  in  his  mother's  garden  in  Missouri,  and 
how  she  had  just  forwarded  it  to  him  by  mail,  when  the 
lady  of  the  dugout  entered  the  door  without  speaking  to 
anyone,  placed  the  keg  on  her  hip  and  descended  to  the 
dugout.  There  did  not  seem  to  be  anyone  expecting 
visitors  until  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening,  and  no  one 
welcomed  them  or  paid  any  kind  of  attention  to  them. 
As  the  host  and  hostess  seemed  absorbed  in  preparing 
supper,  Mr.  Paine  called  for  volunteers  to  go  and  visit 
some  Mexican  plazas  while  waiting  for  the  ceremonies 
to  begin.  All  went.  The  buildings  of  the  peasants  were 
made  of  sun  dried  brick  or  thick-walled  adobe,  with 
numerous  buildings  for  numbers  of  families  joined  to- 
gether, evidently  for  mutual  assistance  in  case  of  attack 
by  Indians.  Their  fire-places  were  built  in  the  corner 
of  each  room  and  formed  a  complete  semi-circle.  They 
had  no  fire-irons — they  used  pinon  or  pitch  pine  wood. 
They  would  set  a  stick  on  end  in  the  fire-place  #nd  touch 
a  match  to  a  heavily  resined  part  and  the  flames  would 
shoot  up  the  stick  of  wood  and  up  the  chimney  as  from 
a  dry  tree  ignited  in  a  forest  fire,  making  a  cheerful  and 
inspiring  scene.  They  found  quite  a  number  of  women, 


AND   THE   PIONEER  111 

also  several  men.  The  Mexicans  had  no  chairs,  but  sat 
around  the  walls  on  little  mats;  the  women  wore  their 
shawls  over  their  heads,  and  were  modest  and  comely  in 
appearance.  Both  men  and  women  were  under-sized, 
compared  with  Americans. 

Every  family  had  a  patch  of  corn,  beans,  potatoes, 
citron,  and  red  pepper,  the  chief  articles  of  the  native 
diet,  which  they  grew  to  great  perfection  under  a  sys- 
tem of  irrigation,  as  it  very  rarely  rains  there. 

The  ground  sloped  gently  to  the  south.  They  took 
the  water  out  of  the  natural  stream  into  an  artificial 
ditch,  and  checking  the  flow  at  the  upper  end  of  their 
truck  patches,  turned  a  trickling  little  stream  down 
furrows  made  by  the  side  of  every  row,  permitting  it 
to  run  until  the  ground  was  thoroughly  soaked;  this  they 
repeated  every  three  weeks.  Farming  by  irrigation  is 
the  only  scientific  farming.  No  drought,  no  excessive  damp- 
ness; and  the  mineral  and  new  soil  in  the  water  is  con- 
tinually fertilizing  the  ground.  Those  accustomed  to  the 
humid  regions  may  think  it  tedious  and  very  expensive, 
but  this  is  an  error.  Nature,  not  supplying  the  arid 
region  with  natural  rainfall,  has  so  shaped  the  surface 
of  the  earth  and  so  constituted  the  soil  that  it  can  be 
easily  and  cheaply  irrigated  without  washing. 

The  visitors  were  welcomed  and  very  courteously 
and  hospitably  entertained. 

When  the  Mexicans  saluted  one  another  they  em- 
braced instead  of  shaking  hands,  but  shook  hands  with 
the  visitors. 

At  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening,  about  twenty  couples 
met  at  the  house  where  they  had  found  the  baked  jack- 
rabbit,  for  the  ball.  The  owners  were  old  pioneers  who 
had  lived  in  the  dugout  many  years;  they  had  just  com- 


112  THE  PILGRIM 

pleted  the  house  and  wanted  it  properly  christened.  The 
way  the  Saguache  party  came  to  be  there  was,  that  a 
young  merchant  of  Saguache  occasionally  visited  a  young 
lady  at  San  Isabel  and  Mr.  Hearn  had  invited  him  to 
bring  over  eight  or  ten  couples  for  the  dance. 

The  party  at  the  dance  was  conglomerate.  There 
were  gray-haired  men  and  gray-haired  women,  little 
boys  and  little  girls,  young  men  and  young  women,  and 
the  middle  aged.  The  nationalities  were  German,  French, 
English,  American,  and  Mexican. 

The  host  and  hostess  were  not  society  people,  so  they 
gave  the  visitors  possession  of  the  new  house  and  the 
management  of  the  gaities,  while  they  looked  after  supper. 

At  the  beginning,  the  nationalities  were  a  little  clan- 
nish, which  gave  a  good  opportunity  to  distinguish  the  dif- 
ferent shades  of  style.  The  corpulent  Germans  were  ener- 
getically whirling  and  jumping  flat-footed  at  the  entranc- 
ing time,  and  driving  everything  out  of  their  track  like  the 
cow-catcher  of  a  mighty  locomotive;  the  French  were 
artistically  touching  the  floor  with  the  balls  of  their  feet, 
and  turning  in  the  smallest  space  with  the  grace  and 
regularity  of  a  top,  avoiding  every  possible  contact;  the 
Americans  were  recklessly  striding  and  gliding  into  others ; 
while  the  Mexicans  had  both  hands  around  the  waists  of 
their  partners — the  Mexican  custom — slowly  swaying  the 
body  to  the  right,  then  to  the  left,  then  weaving  around 
and  around,  flat-footed,  and  beating  down  every  strain  of 
the  inspiring  time,  like  a  ventriloquist  keeping  the  sound 
of  a  bumble  bee  under  his  foot. 

The  gentlemen  from  Saguache  were  strangers,  and 
no  one  offered  to  introduce  them,  so  the  irrepressible 
minister's  son  came  to  their  rescue.  He  would  take  a 
gentleman  by  the  arm,  lead  him  up  to  a  lady,  and  say, 


AND  THE   PIONEER  113 

"Senorita',  this  is  Mr.  Jones,"  or  "Senora,  this  is  Mr. 
Campbell,"  or  "Mrs.-  Waxelbaumer,  this  is  Mr..  Smith," 
and  they  would  ask  for  a  dance,  be  accepted,  and  move 
on. 

He  said  this  was  all  right,  for  the  women  took  no 
more  chances  on  the  men  than  the  men  did  on  the  women^ 
as  they  were  all  utter  strangers. 

At  twelve  o'clock  the  host  appeared  and  said : 

"Supper  is  now  ready  at  the  dugout  and  there  is 
room  for  all." 

The  company  marched  to  the  dugout  and  partook  of 
as  palatable  and  dainty  a  repast  as  could  be  gotten  in 
any  country;  the  jingling  of  solid  silver  and  the  click  of 
delicate  china  were  heard  everywhere;  these  articles  had 
been  heirlooms  of  the  family  for  generations,  and  had 
been  hauled  across  the  plains  by  bull  teams. 

Before  the  party  dispersed,  the  incorrigible  Paine 
addressed  the  dancers,  saying,  "The  Saguache  contingent 
has  had  a  most  delightful  time  with  you.  Every  mem- 
ber of  our  little  group  has  personally  met  every  one  of 
your  party.  Such  sobriety,  courtesy,  and  democracy  as 
we  have  witnessed  here  tonight  could  not  prevail  else- 
where than  in  the  shadows  of  the  majestic  Sangre  de 
Cristo  range.  I  trust  that  the  friendships  and  mutual 
regard  emanating  from  this  informal  house-warming 
may  result  in  business  partnerships,  life-long  friendships, 
and  happy  marriages.  I  know  that  you  all  feel  that  no 
one  has  been  tarnished  or  contaminated  by  being  informal 
and  generous  to  strangers  in  a  strange  land." 

The  following  evening  Mr.  Paine  and  Mr.  Campbell 
gleefully  joined  twenty  American  couples  for  the  Whea- 
ton  fandango.  Mr.  Wheaton  was  a  sterling  American 
who  had  some  years  previously  married  a  fair  senorita, 


114  THE  PILGRIM 

and  had  become  the  patriarch  of  his  plaza  and  the  polit- 
ical power  of  a  large  Mexican  settlement.  Nothing 
has  a  greater  tendency  to  draw  the  heart  of  the  Mexican 
to  the  political  leader  than  the  gentle  mazes  of  the  Spanish 
fandango. 

Mr.  Wheaton  had  built  an  adobe  dance  hall  on  his 
premises  to  be  used  for  political  purposes. 

When  the  invited  guests  were  tabbed  it  was  found 
that  twenty  American  and  thirty-five  Mexican  couples 
had  assembled.  Only  about  half  of  these  couples  could 
occupy  the  floor  at  one  time.  Almost  immediately,  that 
innate  antipathy  of  nationality  against  nationality,  began 
to  crop  out.  Mr.  Wheaton  saw  the  gathering  storm  and 
set  about  to  avert  it.  He  called  the  leaders  of  both  na- 
tionalities together  and  proposed  that  they  alternate  in 
the  occupancy  of  the  floor.  This  met  the  approval  of 
both,  and  Mr.  Wheaton  was  very  cheerful  over  the  pros- 
pects of  complete  harmony  where  a  few  moments  before  it 
seemed  impossible.  The  redoubtable  Paine  was  not  sub- 
ject to  discipline.  He  insisted  on  pushing  into  the 
Mexican  sets,  and  assumed  familiarities  with  the  senoritas, 
to  the  great  irritation  of  their  male  devotees.  About  one 
A.  M.  he  made  some  slighting  remark  about  a  short, 
rotund  senora,  which  was  heard  by  her  husband.  The 
latter  became  enraged,  consulted  with  his  countrymen, 
and  in  a  few  moments  the  thirty-five  Mexican  couples, 
in  an  orderly,  and  solemn  manner,  left  the  hall  and 
marched  away  to  the  plaza. 

The  Americans  were  delighted,  as  this  gave  them  com- 
plete possession.  While  they  were  enraptured  with  the 
strains  of  an  entrancing  waltz,  the  Mexican  men  returned 
with  their  pockets  and  hands  filled  with  boulders,  and 


AND  THE  PIONEER  115 

without  warning  began  shattering  the  chandeliers  and 
the  American  heads. 

The  women  fled  to  the  rear  of  the  hall.  Fortunately 
the  Americans  had  two  local  pugilists  among  their  num- 
ber. They  threw  off  their  coats,  dropped  their  suspenders 
from  their  shoulders,  spat  upon  their  hands,  and  called 
upon  the  others  to  follow  the  charge.  Robert  Green  led 
them  upon  the  left  of  the  hall,  and  John  Hill  on  the  right. 

The  Mexicans  were  in  possession  of  the  front  end 
of  the  hall  and  the  means  of  egress  and  ingress,  and 
four  or  five  of  their  number  were  stationed  just  out- 
side of  the  main  door,  throwing  in  rocks  to  their 
warriors.  The  Mexicans  were  under-sized  in  comparison 
to  their  competitors,  and  as  these  pugilists  struck  one 
after  another  of  their  smaller  foes,  he  was  left  limp 
and  helpless  upon  the  floor.  Mr.  Green  cleared  his 
side  of  the  hall  first.  As  he  reached  the  door  he  ob- 
served four  or  five  Mexicans  gathering  and  throwing  in 
stones  to  their  countrymen.  He  whirled  to  assist 
in  clearing  the  right  side  of  the  hall,  when  he 
ran  into  Mr.  Campbell  with  his  22-caliber,  three-inch- 
barrel  pistol  in  his  right  hand.  Green  fairly 
jerked  him  onto  the  threshold  of  the  door,  and  ordered 
him  to  "shoot  the  head  off  the  first  one  of  these  — - — 
greasers  that  offers  to  straighten  up  or  move."  Mr. 
Campbell  was  as  stiff  from  fright  as  a  metallic  cigar 
sign,  but  Green  had  jerked  him  into  position 
pointing  his  pistol  in  the  right  direction,  and  had  given 
the  necessary  orders  to  kill.  Every  Mexican  was  half 
bent,  with  one  hand  upon  the  ground  feeling  for  boulders 
when  the  order  was  given,  and  no  one  changed  his  posi- 
tion further,  than  to  look  directly  into  the  barrel  of  this 
formidable  implement  of  death.  After  the  shoulder 


116  THE  PILGRIM 

strikers .  had  cleared  the  hall  of  the  enemy,  they  passed 
from  one  of  these  rock-gatherers  to  another  and  gave  him 
a  jolt  under  the  ear  which  sent  him  winding  in  the  dark; 
he  would  then  gain  his  feet  and  run  for  the  plaza. 

When  the  Mexicans  were  finished,  an  American  who 
had  married  a  Mexican  woman,  drove  his  wagon  up  close 
to  the  door  and  was  trying  to  get  his  senora  into  it  for 
an  early  escape.  Some  one  cried  out,  "There  is  a  squaw- 
man.  Give  him  a  tap  under  the  ear  as  a  tribute  to 
his  poor  matrimonial  taste."  Mr.  Hill  gave  him  a 
left  hander  which  sent  him  sprawling  upon  his  face 
under  the  wagon. 

The  Americans  returned  to  the  hall  chuckling, 
and  immediately  attempted  to  quiet  the  frightened 
wTomen.  To  their  utter  surprise  they  found  in  the  midst 
of  the  women  the  pestiferous  Paine,  who  had  brought 
on  the  riot.  Green  exclaimed,  "Well,  Paine,  you  are 
the  only  black  sheep  in  this  flock.  Through  your  cussed- 
ness  we  had  to  meet  greater  numbers,  taking  us  by  sur- 
prise, and  no  man  turned  his  back  to  the  enemy  ex- 
cept you,  the  starter  of  the  disturbance." 

Mr.  Paine  mumbled  out  that  the  women  held  him, 
and  that  he  couldn't  get  away  from  them.  The  women 
indignantly  denied  this. 

While  one  after  another  was  looking  down  upon 
him  with  scorn  and  denouncing  his  cowardice,  the 
musicians  slipped  down  from  a  high  railed  platform  and 
were  trying  to  make  a  quiet  escape  from  the  hall.  Among 
them  was  an  old  peg-legged  Mexican  who  was  passing 
the  crowd  just  as  someone  was  denouncing  Paine 
for  not  joining  in  the  battle.  Mr.  Paine  quickly  turned 
and  saying,  "It  is  not  too  late  yet,"  hauled  off  and 
knocked  the  peg-legged  old  Mexican  down.  Mr.  Green 


AND  THE   PIONEER  117 

then  took  him  across  his  lap  and  paddled  him  as 
a  mother  would  a  child.  Mr.  Hill  jumped  to  the 
music  stand,  tore  the  sharp-cornered,  two-by-four  railing 
from  its  posts,  had  Mr.  Paine  thrown  astride  of  it,  and 
they  rode  him  on  this  rail  until  the  carriages  were  all 
ready  to  be  filled,  and  he  was  left  upon  the  prairie  six 
miles  from  home  in  the  dark  alone. 

When  the  injuries  were  figured  up  among  the 
Americans  several  were  found  with  bruised  heads,  and 
one  had  his  hands  and  fingers  badly  cut,  while  Mr.  Hill, 
one  of  the  pugilists,  had  one  cheek  laid  open  from  a  large 
knife. 

Mr.  Campbell  was  in  the  wagon  with  the  pugilists, 
still  stiff  from  fright.  He  was  mentally  pledging  him- 
self that  if  he  could  get  home  alive,  he  would  never  again 
attend  a  Mexican  fandango. 

Mr.  Hill  was  asked  how  he  got  his  face  slashed 
open.  He  replied:  "W'y,  I  did  this  to  save  Campbell's 
life.  While  he  was  standing  there  so  bravely  holding 
the  rock-gatherers  with  their  noses  to  the  ground  at  the 
muzzle  of  his  gun,  that  big  black  Mexican  slipped  up 
behind  him  and  was  just  about  to  sever  his  jugular, 
when  I  let  him  have  a  right  hander  under  the  jaw  and 
on  his  way  to  the  floor  he  slashed  me  in  the  face.  One 
more  second  would  have  been  enough  for  him  to  sever 
Campbell's  head  from  his  body."  Mr.  Campbell  went 
into  a  regular  chill,  which  he  could  not  throw  off  until 
the  next  day.  This  ended  his  society  engagements  in  the 
San  Luis  valley.  The  next  day  in  telling  Mr.  Wickham 
about  it,  he  said,  "Mr.  Wickham,  I  can't  see  how  anyone 
over  lives  long  enough  in  this  civilization  to  become  a 
pioneer." 

When  the  janitor  cleaned  up  the  hall,  he  reported 


118  THE  PILGRIM 

the  finding  of  blood  spots,  mats  of  hair,  and  Mexican 
teeth  about  every  part  of  the  premises. 

Mr.  Campbell  sneered,  "What  a  contrast  between 
these  and  the  fluffy  rosettes,  little  tufts  of  chiffon,  and 
garlands  of  withered  flowers,  the  insiginia  of  the  departed 
dancers  in  old  Tennessee." 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  WORLD  A  GLASS  HOUSE  TO  THE  FALSE. 

Saguache  now  began  to  be  the  gateway  of  travel  for 
the  mines  of  Lake  City. 

Three  gentlemen  from  Kentucky,  all  well  dressed, 
but  one  rather  flashily  so,  stopped  over  a  day  to  rest. 
The  showy  one  spent  money  freely  and  created  the  im- 
pression that  he  had  much  to  spend. 

After  this  party  reached  Lake  City,  eighty  miles 
south,  there  appeared  in  the  "Silver  World"  an  obituary 
stating  that  forty  miles  south  of  Saguache  this  lively  and 
apparently  wealthy  member  of  the  party  ate  an  exorbitant 
meal  of  mountain  trout,  took  the  colic,  died,  and  was 
buried  on  the  banks  of  the  Saguache. 

The  old  pioneers  looked  at  the  notice,  shook  their 
heads,  and  said: 

"There  are  suspicious  things  about  this.  In  the 
first  place  the  water  was  so  high  they  could  not  catch 
the  fish;  then  it  is  not  probable  that  he  could  have  eaten 
enough  of  this  wholesome  diet  to  kill  him ;  and  lastly, 
it  is  not  the  natural  thing  for  a  comrade  like  this  one  to 
be  buried  without  coffin  or  ceremony  in  a  wilderness, 
while  within  one  day's  travel  they  could  reach  all  of 
the  conveniences  of  a  decent  funeral  and  burial.  Well," 
they  suggested,  "It  shows  all  of  the  ear  marks  of  'foul 
play.'  " 

The  attention  of  the  coroner  was  aroused,  and  he 
concluded  to  summon  a  coroner's  jury,  take  a  few  wit- 
nesses and  Mr.  Campbell,  the  county  attorney,  and  hie 


120  THE  PILGRIM 

away  to  see  what  evidence  of  crime  this  newly  made 
grave  might  contain.  Near  the  place,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Saguache,  was  a  cattle  ranch,  and  the  proprietor  was  the 
father  of  three  of  the  prettiest  girls  in  the  country,  and 
their  admirers  were  numerous.  Every  beau  was  try- 
ing to  get  subpoenaed  as  a  witness  or  juror  that  he  might 
go.  A  newspaper  man,  a  surveyor,  Mr.  Campbell,  and 
a  liveryman,  secured  a  spring  wagon  to  which  was  hitched 
the  best  team  in  town.  The  driver  suggested  that  some 
of  the  lovers  of  these  girls  had  induced  the  officers  to 
subpoena  them,  and  that  their  sole  object  was  to  visit  the 
girls  at  the  county's  expense.  "There  will  not  be  room 
for  more  than  four,"  he  remarked,  "and  if  you  prefer  I 
will  drive  you  in  first,  and  you  can  engage  all  the  room 
and  keep  the  lovers  in  camp." 

"Yes,  by  all  means,  get  us  there  first,"  answered  one 
of  the  party. 

The  liveryman  seemed  to  think  such  a  trip  as  this 
at  the  county's  expense  would  knock  him  out  of  hiring 
them  teams. 

Mr.  Macready,  the  oldest  one  of  the  party,  remarked, 
"Here,  if  we  find  that  dead  man,  it  will  be  stifling  to 
move  his  body.  I  suggest  that  each  passenger  be  re- 
quired to  take  a  quart  of  whiskey,  as  medicine,  you  know." 

"A  quart  of  whiskey?"  inquired  Mr.  Campbell,  "I 
never  drank  that  much  whiskey  in  all  my  life,  and  don't 
expect  to  drink  that  much,  if  I  live  forty  years  longer." 

"Very  well,"  answered  Mr.  Macready,  "If  you  don't 
have  to  drink  it  you  will  be  fortunate,  but  those  who 
have  to  handle  that  putrid  corpse  will  sorely  need  it. 
Those  who  escape  this  ordeal  can  well  afford  to  furnish 
this  little  amount  of  medicine."  They  all  went  to  the 
saloons,  and  each  purchased  his  quart  of  "medicine." 


AND  THE  PIONEER  121 

The  rain  was  pouring  down  in  torrents,  and  the 
spring  wagon  was  without  a  cover.  Mr.  Macready  got  a 
box  of  tacks  and  a  hammer,  and  with  the  driver's  assistance 
moved  the  seats  close  to  each  end,  stretched  a  buffalo  robe 
and  tacked  it  thoroughly  to  the  tops  of  the  seats  as  a 
shelter.  The  four  passengers  climbed  in,  took  seats  on 
the  floor  of  the  wagon  box,  under  the  buffalo  robe,  and 
began  a  game  of  seven  up  for  the  drinks.  Whenever  a 
member  should  lose  a  game,  he  was  to  pass  his  quart  of 
"medicine." 

When  the  first  game  was  lost,,  the  victim  passed 
his  bottle.  When  it  reached  Mr.  Campbell  he  replied, 
"No,  thank  you,  I  don't  drink  at  all."  The  other  three 
insisted  that  he  must,  that  it  would  warm  him  up,  and 
prevent  his  taking  cold.  Mr.  Campbell  insisted  that  he 
preferred  the  cold  to  the  effects  of  such  "medicine."  His 
companions  took  hold  of  him,  pinioned  him  to  the  floor, 
poured  some  of  it  in  his  ears,  in  his  nose,  and  one  of 
them  was  prying  his  mouth  open,  while  the  others  were 
saying,  "Open  it  if  you  have  to  knock  his  teeth  out.  He 
is  the  most  unsophisticated  tenderfoot  we  ever  saw." 
One  suggested  they  pour  it  all  into  him. 

Mr.  Campbell  soon  became  exhausted  and  yielded  to 
their  persuasion,  saying  that  if  he  must  have  that  vile 
stuff  inside  of  him  he  would  take  it  in  an  orderly  way. 
They  made  him  drink  heartily,  and  at  the  end  of  every 
game  they  did  not  fail  to  see  that  he  drank  deep  and 
well. 

When  the  driver  reached  the  Hodding  Dairy,  twelve 
miles  up  the  Saguache  River,  he  got  out  and  looked  under 
the  buffalo  robe,  and  his  four  passengers  were  squeezed 
in  like  sardines,  sound  asleep.  He  aroused  them,  but 
none  of  them  were  able  to  navigate.  He  went  to  the  dairy, 


122  THE  PILGRIM 

had  a  quart  of  greasy  sweet  milk  sent  over  for  each  one 
of  his  passengers,  saying,  "Boys,  it  won't  do  to  go  to  Mr. 
Wayne's  house  in  this  condition.  Each  of  you  take  a 
cup  of  this  sweet  milk,  and  you  will  be  as  sober  as  judges 
in  a  half  hour."  All  of  them  except  Mr.  Campbell  took 
the  proffered  cup,  and  drank  the  contents.  It  acted  as 
an  emetic,  and  each  one  immediately  obtained  the  neces- 
sary relief.  Mr.  Campbell  resented  the  offer,  and  said 
that  he  was  no  blatant  calf  that  every  passing  herder 
might  stuff  with  milk  at  his  pleasure.  He  said  that  he 
was  not  drunk  anyway,  and  stretching  out  in  the  bottom 
of  the  wagon,  returned  to  his  slumbers.  The  other  pas- 
sengers reached  Mr.  Wayne's  house  in  good  condition,  and 
suggested  to  the  Misses  Wayne  that  Mr.  Campbell  was 
a  little  in  his  cups.  -  The  young  women  expressed  their 
utter  astonishment,  and  suggested  they  did  not  suppose 
that  he  touched  the  vile  stuff.  They  ordered  Mr.  Grill, 
an  English  helper  about  the  house,  to  pail  a  quart  of 
warm  milk,  arouse  Mr.  Campbell,  have  him  drink  it,  and 
as  soon  as  he  should  be  sufficiently  relieved  escort  him  to 
the  house.  Grill  prepared  his  milk,  aroused  Mr.  Camp- 
bell, and  informing  him  what  his  orders  were,  proffered 
the  cup  of  warm  milk.  Mr.  Campbell  indignantly  refused 
the  cup,  said  his  comrades  had  vilely  slandered  him,  that 
he  was  perfectly  sober,  but  had  had  a  little  slumber,  that 
was  all. 

With  much  confidence  he  started  to  climb  from  the 
spring  wagon,  but  the  ground  was  much  nearer 
than  it  seemed,  and  he  dropped  in  a  heap  by  the 
side  of  the  wagon.  He  scrambled  to  his  feet,  and  made 
a  bold  plunge  for  the  house.  The  road  was  not  wide 
enough  for  him.  His  feet  were  as  far  apart  as  the  wagon 
tracks,  and  it  seemed  impossible  for  him  to  go  through 


AND  THE  PIONEER  123 

the  wagon  gate  without  hitting  a  post.  The  front  door 
was  directly  before  him,  but  he  boldly  passed  it,  went 
around  the  house  to  the  kitchen  door,  and  pushed  him- 
self in  without  knocking.  Miss  Emily  welcomed  him 
with  her  usual  welcome  smile.  He  began  an  awkward 
apology  for  being  sick.  Intoxicated  as  he  was,  he  never 
has  been  able  to  forget  the  gentle  irony  with  which  she 
told  him  that  she  had  seen  a  great  many  persons  suffer- 
ing from  his  malady,  and  had  always  found  that  a  com- 
fortable couch  and  wholesome  sleep  were  a  complete 
specific  for  the  disease.  She  placed  him  on  a  lounge, 
and  threw  some  blankets  over  him.  The  next  morning 
he  was  duly  sober,  but  overwhelmed  with  chagrin  and 
humiliation.  His  shirt  bosom  looked  as  if  a  hose  con- 
nected with  a  cesspool  had  been  turned  loose  on  it.  He 
sidled  around  and  explained  that  he  had  on  a  flashy 
necktie  the  day  before,  and  that  the  drenching  rain  had 
transferred  the  color  from  it  to  his '  shirt.  Miss  Emily 
quietly  replied,  "You  stay  here  today,  and  I  will  give  you 
one  of  father's  shirts,  and  will  have  yours  washed  while 
we  go  fishing.  It  isn't  best  for  you  to  be  out  with  those 
ruffians  anyway."  He  shook  his  head  and  answered,  "I 
must  go." 

When  the  teamster  went  to  put  away  his  horses  he 
found  the  barn  was  on  one  side  of  the  Saguache  River 
and  the  house  on  the  other,  a  light  foot  bridge  connecting 
them,  and  that  the  Saguache  River  was  overflowing  and 
not  fordable. 

The  party  loosed  their  horses  and  put  them  up,  and 
as  they  were  crossing  the  bridge  for  the  house,  Mr.  Sharp 
asked  the  old  gentleman  if  he  was  through  milking  and 
feeding  for  the  night.  He  answered  that  he  was. 

Then  Mr.  Sharp  told  him  he  had  seen  a  mighty  cloud 


124  THE   PILGRIM 

descend  to  the  mountain  peaks,  shatter  and  disappear 
in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  and  he  was  very  fearful  of 
a  water-spout  coming  down  there  and  taking  out  the 
foot  bridge  and  cutting  them  off  from  their  horses. 

"If  you  don't  mind,"  he  continued,  "we  will  pull 
the  bridge  over  to  the  house  side  and  thoroughly  anchor  it, 
and  then  replace  it  in  the  morning." 

The  old  gentleman  replied  that  he  would  be  very  much 
obliged  if  it  would  not  be  too  much  trouble. 

They  pulled  the  bridge  over  the  river  and  made  all 
chance  for  the  beaux  reaching  their  sweethearts  impos- 
sible that  evening. 

During  the  evening  the  coroner  was  beckoned  to  the 
river's  edge  and  let  into  the  plot,  and  none  of  the  pas- 
sengers in  the  front  wagon  could  be  seen  next  morning 
until  the  other  wagons  drove  away.  Then  the  bridge 
was  replaced.  They  searched  the  banks  of  the  Saguache 
far  and  near,  but  could  find  no  trace  of  a  newly  made 
grave,  and  returned  convinced  that  foul  play  had  sug- 
gested a  secret  burial  place. 

When  the  party  started  home  the  astute  liveryman 
avoided  the  road  leading  by  the  house,  and  as  the  beaux 
had  lost  four  days  and  had  not  seen  their  girls,  their 
disappointments  had  increased  their  anxiety,  and  the  next 
Sunday  the  ingenious  and  business-like  liveryman  hired 
them  a  team  just  as  he  expected  he  would  do  if  they 
could  be  kept  away  from  the  house,  at  the  county's  ex- 
pense. 

On  the  way  back  to  Saguache  they  visited  a  rich 
and  highly  cultivated  colony  of  English  dairymen,  cattle, 
and  sheep  men,  who,  like  Abraham,  left  the  dry  and 
sterile  pastures  of  their  native  land  and  settled  on  the 
banks  of  a  strange  river.  How  singular  that  these  for- 


AND  THE   PIONEER  125 

eigners,  living  five  thousand  miles  away,;  should  have 
realized  the  great  value  of  the  nutritious  native  grasses 
before  our  own  citizens  did.  Their  dairies  and  herds 
were  models  of  perfection.  Their  houses  were  good  and 
luxuriously  furnished.  They  gave  the  visitors  a  most 
dainty  and  excellent  lunch,  and  vividly  described  the 
acknowledged  great  value  of  native  grasses  from  the  days 
of  Abraham.  They  said  it  was  far  superior  to  Australia, 
and  then  they  had  a  monopoly  of  the  markets  of  the  Can- 
tonment and  Indian  agency  just  beyond. 

About  the  middle  of  the  afternoon  the  party  stopped 
at  a  large  Mexican  plaza.  A  corpulent  and  intelligent 
white  man  had  married  a  senorita  and  was  regarded  as 
the  patriarch  of  the  plaza.  In  the  plaza  they  found  a 
white  man  who  had  long  been  used  as  an  interpreter  of 
the  Ute  Indians.  This  tribe  spoke  the  Spanish,  or  Mexi- 
can language.  He  told  them  many  interesting  things 
about  these  Indians.  They  had  just  had  a  conference 
with  some  American  commissioners  in  which  Mr.  Heaton 
acted  as  interpreter.  The  whites  wanted  them  to  move 
over  to  the  Uncompahgre  Valley.  They  wanted  to  remain 
at  Los  Pinos.  The  whites  insisted.  The  young  bucks 
wanted  to  go  to  war  with  the  whites.  Finally  Chief  Ouray 
took  the  platform  and  pathetically  told  the  tribe  of  their 
numbers  during  his  father's  days,  and  how  other  tribes 
and  the  pale  faces  had  mowed  them  down,  thinned  them 
out,  overpowered  them,  and  driven  them  back;  that  his 
tribe  had  been  as  brave,  loyal,  and  patriotic,  as  any  tribe 
of  the  plains  or  mountains,  but  that  there  were  too  few 
of  them  to  face  the  great  tribe  of  the  pale  faces.  He 
told  them  he  had  just  been  to  Washington  to  see  the 
Great  Father,  and  described  the  size  of  their  guns  and 
how  they  could  make  them,  and  their  great  destructibility. 


126  THE  PILGRIM 

He  told  them  that  the  white  men  were  as  thick  as  the 
grass  of  the  valley,  and  the  more  you  cut  them  down 
the  thicker  they  would  come.  He  said  the  tribes  of  the 
pale  faces  were  like  the  prairie  dogs;  if  they  got  into  a 
country  they  would  take  it,  and  no  power  could  exterminate 
them.  If  the  Utes  should  try  to  stay  where  they  were, 
he  explained,  the  pale  faces,  with  their  great  guns  and 
greater  numbers,  would  kill  them  all  and  have  a  great  war 
dance  over  their  dead  bodies,  while  if  they  moved  to  the 
Uncompahgre  Valley  they  could  live  in  peace  for  a  num- 
ber .of  years,  at  least. 

The  middle  aged  and  the  old  men  all  voted  to  move 
and  live,  the  most  of  the  young  bucks  voted  to  stay  and 
die,  but  the  older  men  carried  the  day,  and  they  moved. 
This  is  not  strange.  Every  generation  of  young  men 
insists  upon  war. 

Mr.  Heaton  also  told  them  many  interesting  things 
about  the  English  colony.  He  told  them  that  one  young 
Englishman  had  been  there  off  and  on  for  two  years  who 
enjoyed  a  fixed  income  of  over  $100,000  per  annum.  He 
was  a  confirmed  bachelor.  A  sweet-voiced,  very  witty, 
intelligent,  and  rosy-cheeked  American  girl  had  been 
visiting  the  Indian  agency,  and  she  was  going  East  about 
the  time  that  this  Englishman  was  expecting  to  start  for 
England.  The  book-keeper  of  the  agency  arranged  with 
him  to  look  after  her  on  the  long  stage  ride  to  the  rail- 
road and  to  see  her  safely  on  the  cars,  and  particularly 
warned  him  to  be  on  his  guard  against  the  blandishments 
of  her  charms.  The  bookkeeper  said  he  was  not  certain 
but  what  every  man  at  the  agency  was  in  love  with  her. 

The  Englishman,  shaking  his  head,  had  replied : 

"I  have  moved  in  the  highest  circles  of  English  so- 
ciety for  fifteen  years  and  every  inducement  has  been 


AND   THE   PIONEER  127 

extended  me  for  a  revel  in  the  emotional  dalliance  of 
hymen,  but  rny  heart  is  too  frigid  to  warm  up  under  the 
glowing  fires  of  the  best  English  blood,  and  I  shall  hardly 
be  captivated  in  the  rugged  wilds  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains.'7 

The  rich  Englishman,  Mr.  Henton,  made  the  hard 
trip  with  this  charming  girl,  and  when  he  met  the  book- 
keeper again  he  said : 

"I  have  often  pondered  over  your  parting  injunc- 
tion, 'Beware  of  the  blandishments  of  that  young  lady's 
charms/  and  I  had  often  heard  the  proverb,  'You  should 
go  camping  with  a  man  to  learn  if  he  is  worthy  of  your 
friendship.'  I  would  add  another.  'If  you  want  to  learn 
whether  a  woman  is  worthy  of  your  affections,  chaperon 
her  two  hundred  miles  over  the  Rocky  Mountains  in  a 
stage  coach  in  the  snow  and  wind,  riding  day  and  night, 
eating  at  all  kinds  of  tables  and  at  infrequent  hours. 

"Miss  Fane  adapted  herself  so  resignedly  to  the 
conditions,  looked  so  hopefully  upon  the  cheerful  side 
of  every  inconvenience,  was  so  thoughtful  about  the  horses, 
driver,  and  everyone  else,  and  so  unmindful  of  herself, 
and  withal  so  charmingly  entertaining,  that  at  the  end 
of  the  trip  we  all  really  felt  that  she  had  been  in  charge 
of  horses,  driver,  and  passengers.  She  occupied  the  po- 
sition of  a  healthy,  even-tempered,  cheerful  captain  of  a 
ship. 

"When  bidding  her  goodbye  I  felt  as  one  does  after 
a  rough  sea  voyage  when  saying  farewell  to  a  kind  captain 
who  has  been  at  all  times  oblivious  of  himself  and  sacri- 
ficed everything  for  his  passengers  without  expecting  ever 
to  see  them  again. 

"She  quietly  said,  'I  do  hope,  yes  I  am  sure,  you 
will  have  a  very,  very  pleasant  voyage.' 


128  THE  PILGRIM 

"Unconsciously  I  stammered,  'Yes,  yes,  thank  you. 
I  should  be  delighted  to  write  you  of  the  trip.7 

"  'I  should  be  very  glad  to  have  you  write  me  of 
it/  she  answered,  'I  know  it  would  be  very  interesting.' 

"As  I  moved  away  the  boldness  of  my  offer  scared 
me.  I  tried  to  be  sorry;  tried  to  think  I  was  sorry  that 
I  had  made  such  an  offer;  felt  that  it  might  be  trouble- 
some. 

"Her  image,  her  exemplary  disposition,  her  prin- 
ciples of  unselfish  devotion,  her  easy  ways  of  finding 
sunshine  everywhere,  followed  me.  I  tried  to  banish  her 
and  every  reminder  of  her  from  my  memory,  or  thoughts. 
I  was  so  trying,  but  I  never  saw  a  person  show  an  im- 
patience, make  a  complaint,  or  do  an  unseeming  thing, 
that  my  mind  did  not  make  a  chaste  picture  of  how  she 
would  do  or  act  under  such  conditions.  As  soon  as  I 
was  presented  to  a  lady  I  would  find  myself  comparing 
her  with  Miss  Fane,  and  always  to  the  disadvantage  of 
my  new  acquaintance. 

"When  we  landed  I  could  not  wait.  Something  im- 
pelled me  to  write  her  about  the  trip.  I  gave  her  a 
glowing  description  of  the  voyage.  With  her  in  mind  I 
could  not  write  of  storms  and  angry  waves.  When  I 
finished  I  collected  myself  and  read  it  over.  I  had  cer- 
tainly surprised  myself.  I  had  had  an  inspiration.  I  had 
no  idea  till  then  that  I  possessed  such  descriptive  faculties. 
I  observed  that  when  closing  a  glowing  paragraph,  I  quite 
frequently  added  by  way  of  parenthesis,  'I  wish  you  could 
have  been  with  me ;  I  know  you  would  have  enjoyed  it 
so  much.7  This  scared  me  again.  I  thought  it  would  be 
construed  as  an  inference.  I  wondered,  'Will  she  reply 
to  it  ?7  I  tried  to  wish  she  would  not ;  I  thought  that  would 
cure  me.  . 


AND  THE  PIONEER  129 

"I  timed  the  mails,  and  by  and  by  an  answer  was 
due.  It  failed — one,  two,  three  days.  My  anxiety  in- 
creased. I  remembered  what  the  bookkeeper  at  the  agency 
said  about  all  of  them  being  in  love  with  her.  It  oc- 
curred to  me,  is  it  he?  I  sought  gay  female  society  as 
a  specific  for  my  malady,  but  it  aggravated  it.  I  con- 
tinued to  compare  everything  they  said  or  did  with  what 
she  would  do  or  say  under  the  same  circumstances  and 
always  to  the  detriment  of  my  country-women. 

"By  and  by  the  answer  came,  a  free,  cheerful,  digni- 
fied, non-emotional  epistle.  It  troubled  me.  I  tried  to 
drive  her  from  me.  She  would  not  go. 

"I  walked  down  to  the  London  bridge  and  gazed  at 
the  flowing  river  and  at  the  passing  crowd,  hoping  to 
forget  her,  but  her  image  hung  to  me  like  a  pest.  I 
became  desperate,  went  to  my  room,  opened  the  flood- 
gates of  my  emotions,  and  unreservedly  wrote  my  feel- 
ings. I  never  read  it  and  never  knew  just  what  I  wrote, 
but  mailed  it  to  America  and  resignedly  awaited  a  reply. 
The  writing  of  this  letter  had  the  same  relaxing  effects 
on  my  strained  emotions  that  a  flood  of  tears  has  on  a 
grief-stricken  mother. 

"In  due  time  a  kind,  dignified  reply  came,  thanking 
me  for  my  good  opinion,  but  reminding  me  that  we  knew 
very  little  of  each  other,  and  suggesting  that  we  corre- 
spond without  any  definite  answer  until  my  return  and 
see  if  I  was  then  of  the  same  mind." 

In  early  spring  Mr.  Henton  returned  to  America,  and 
the  following  fall  recrossed  the  Atlantic  and  introduced 
this  sparkling,  dignified,  complacent,  traveling  companion 
into  London  Society,  as  his  bride.  This  girl 
of  nature,  found  in  the  wilds  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  made,  during  one  short  stage  ride,  a  deeper 


130  THE  PILGRIM 

impression  upon  the  adamantine  heart  of  the  con- 
firmed bachelor  than  all  of  the  mothers  and  daughters 
of  the  best  London  families  in  fifteen  years.  There  is 
quite  as  much  difference  between  the  fresh,  natural  charm 
of  such  simple,  pure-minded  girls  of  nature  and  the 
pampered  up  society  belles  of  the  400  in  some  great 
city,  as  there  is  between  the  beautiful,  full  blown  rose 
in  the  sunny  corner  of  a  fertile  garden  and  the  odorless, 
insipid  hot-house  plant.  One  is  the  pure,  fresh,  natural 
product  and  the  other  the  sickly  and  artificial. 

The  searchers  for  the  dead  man  returned  to  Saguache 
in  the  evening,  and  the  coroner  wrote  the  sheriff  at  Lake 
City  to  arrest  the  survivors  of  the  Kentucky  party. 

He  replied,  "I  arrested  the  Kentucky  party  and  soon 
found  that  I  had  your  corpse  with  the  living.  The  story 
published  in  the  Silver  World  was  a  pure  fabrication. 
The  man  alleged  to  be  dead  had  left  his  wife,  and  fear- 
ing she  would  follow  him,  had  his  obituary  published  and 
sent  to  her  to  keep  her  in  Kentucky." 


CHAPTER  IX. 

RED  BUCK. 

At  the  neighboring  town  of  Milton,  the  inhabitants 
kept  up  a  splendid  half  mile  race  track,  and  Mr.  Penn, 
the  principal  merchant,  possessed  "One-eyed  Riley,"  a 
race  horse  that  for  many  years  had  taken  the  sweep  stakes 
of  the  San  Luis  valley.  Early  in  the  fall  some  of 
the  losers  brought  in  a  gray  mare  from  Trinidad  and 
matched  her  with  One-eyed  Biley.  She  beat  him  and 
cleaned  up  for  her  admirers  some  $18,000  from  Mr. 
Penn  and  his  friends. 

Mr.  Penn  went  up  and  consulted  Mr.  Campbell 
about  the  possibility  of  recovering  his  money.  Mr.  Penn 
said  that  the  managers  of  the  gray  mare  assured  him 
and  his  friends  that  she  was  not  a  professional,  but  only 
an  ordinary  blooded  animal  out  of  one  of  the  valley  herds, 
and  on  this  assurance  he  and  his  friends  bet  some  $18,000 
against  this  amateur,  which  turned  out  to  be  one  of  the 
best  known  race  animals  in  the  West,  and,  of  course,  they 
lost. 

Mr.  Campbell  advised  that  the  whole  thing  on  both 
sides  was  illegal;  that  if  Mr.  Penn  had  forbidden  the 
stakeholders  paying  over  the  money,  and  they  had 
paid  it  to  the  winners,  after  such  warning,  then  they 
would  be  liable  on  the  theory  that  if  at  any  time  before 
the  illegal  act  was  fully  consummated  one  or  both  of  the 
parties  repented  and  desired  to  repudiate  the  forbidden 
act,  the  courts  would  have  lent  a  helping  hand,  but  after 

a  wager  has  been  made,  lost,  and  paid  over  without  ob- 

(131) 


132  THE  PILGRIM 

jection,  the  courts  would  not  lend  their  aid  to  either  of 
the  equally  guilty  parties  in  the  culpable,  consummated 
act ;  hence  there  was  no  remedy  for  him  in  law. 

Mr.  Penn  arose,  paid  Mr.  Campbell  $5.00  for  tell- 
ing him  what  he  could  not  do,  pulled  on  his  gloves,  and 
moped  out  of  the  office,  saying,  "You  probably  state  the 
law  correctly,  but  this  great  rule  of  conduct,  presumed 
to  maintain  what  is  morally  right,  and  to  punish  what  is 
naturally  wrong,  in  this  case  stands  in  with  a  gigantic 
fraud." 

Mr.  Wickham  followed  Mr.  Penn  into  the  yard. 
"Sir,  I  heard  your  statement  to  your  lawyer  and  his 
reply,  that  technically  in  law  you  had  no  remedy, 
and  I  saw  your  depression.  I  never  wager  anything  on 
a  game  of  chance  or  on  speed  and  never  encourage  the 
same  in  others,  but  I  am  interested  in  your  case,-  be- 
cause villiany  is  permitted  to  prevail.  I  think  Mr.  Camp- 
bell is  quite  right,  and  as  neither  of  you  have  clean 
hands,  the  courts  of  justice  will  aid  neither  of  you,  but 
this  does  not  signify  that  you  are  without  redress.  You 
are  justified  in  working  out  equity  on  the  same  field  where 
injustice  prevailed,  even  if  you  cannot  get  aid  in  the 
judicial  sanctuaries.  The  end  demands  the  means,  that 
villiany  may  not  triumph  over  comparative  honesty,  even 
on  this  forbidden  field.77  Their  voices  were  dropped  to 
a  confidential  whisper  for  a  few  minutes,  then  Mr.  Penn 
and  Mr.  Wickham  shook  hands,  the  owner  of  "One-eyed 
Riley77  cheerfully  saying,  "All  right,  whenever  you  say 
so  I  shall  make  the  race  and  bet  them  to  a  standstill,  and 
I  don7t  want  any  mistake  about  it.77  Mr.  Wickham  re- 
plied, "If  I  get  him,  he  will  save  you,  unless  he  drops 
dead  on  the  track,  and  that  is  hardly  probable.77 

As  Thanksgiving  approached,  great  preparations  were 


AND  THE  PIONEER  133 

being  made  for  a  proper  observance  of  the  day  at  Milton. 
Mr.  Wickham  sent  a  note  up  to  Mr.  Penn,  "Make  the 
match.  The  horse  is  here  in  superb  shape." 

The  owner  of  One-eyed  Riley  leisurely  went  over 
to  the  stable  where  the  gray  mare  was  kept  and  carelessly 
said  to  the  manager  of  the  gray  mare,  that  he  had  an 
old  horse  out  on  the  range  that  he  had  never  tried  on  the 
track,  but  he  would  run  him  against  the  gray  mare  on 
Thanksgiving  for  a  small  amount,  simply  to  draw  a  crowd 
to  town  and  to  assist  in  entertaining  it.  The  manager 
of  the  gray  mare  said  he  would  not  run  her  for 
a  stake  less  than  a  hundred  dollars.  "Well,"  said  the 
owner  of  One-eyed  Riley,  "If  I  can  get  a  big  crowd  in 
town  I  can  make  the  hundred  dollars  out  of  trade  in  the 
store.  If  you  will  promise  to  thoroughly  advertise  it 
and  bring  a  big  crowd  here,  I  will  put  up  a  hundred 
dollars  against  the  gray  mare."  Her  manager  eagerly 
agreed  to  the  terms  and  one  hundred  dollars  was  put  up 
by  each  of  them.  All  of  those  who  had  recently  won 
on  the  gray  mare,  with  their  friends,  started  out  at  once 
soliciting  bets. 

This  was  exactly  what  the  owner  of  the 'new  horse 
expected  and  desired. 

He  put  a  liberal  supply  of  money  into  the  hands 
of  a  number  of  his  lieutenants  with  instructions  to  take 
all  offers.  As  the  money  on  the  mare  would  be  confidently 
covered,  the  bettors  would  hesitate  and  say,  "Well,  what 
do  you  know  about  the  old  horse  anyway?" 

The  backers  of  the  horse  would  answer  nothing  ex- 
cept, "We  are  all  betting  on  the  'bull  luck'  of  old  T.'  " 

All  of  the  loose  money,  and  much  jewelry  and  live 
stock,  of  the  valley  were  up  by  Thanksgiving. 

The  gray  mare  came  on  the  track,  pawing  the  ground, 


134  THE  PILGRIM 

champing  the  bit,  and  cantering  around  the  track  side- 
wise. 

The  horse,  a  magnificent,  toppy,  muscular,  large- 
boned  animal  of  the  greyhound  form,  sleepily  walked 
around  the  track,  smelling  of  the  ground  and  cunningly 
observing  the  number  and  kinds  of  horses  he  was  expected 
to  meet. 

The  old  racers  shook  their  heads  and  said,  "That 
horse  is  no  tenderfoot;  look  how  he  is  sizing  things  up. 
I  am  afraid  the  old  man  has  set  a  trap  and  we  have  walked 
into  it." 

As  the  new  horse  started  up  the  track  beside  the 
gray  mare,  an  old  Irishman,  a  trusted  lieutenant  of  Mr. 
Penn,  shoved  fifteen  dollars  under  the  nose  of  Mr.  Camp- 
bell and  cried  out,  "Three  to  one  on  the  new  horse." 
Mr.  Campbell  eagerly  put  up  his  five  dollars  against  the 
fifteen  and  excitedly  cried,  "Do  you  want  more  of  that  ?" 
The  old  Irishman  flourished  under  his  nose  a  hundred 
dollar  bill  and  said,  "Four  to  one  on  the  new  horse.  " 
Mr.  Campbell  excitedly  beckoned  Mr.  Wickham  to  one 
side  and  said,  "I  can  get  you  a  hundred  on  the  new 
horse  to  twenty-five..  Hadn't  you  better  take  that?" 
"No,  no,"  said  Mr.  Wickham,  "I  would  not  put  up  one 
to  a  hundred  against  the  new  horse.  Can't  you  judge 
from  the  confidence  with  which  Mr.  Penn  and  his  lieu- 
tenants place  their  money  on  him,  that  he  must  win  ? 
They  are  the  only- ones  here  who  know  just  what  each 
horse  can  do.  Never  bet  against  a  sure  thing,  however 
much  odds  may  be  offered.  The  backers  of  the  new 
horse  are  playing  their  own  game  today,  and  a  lot  of 
suckers  are  being  caught  on  every  side."  Mr.  Camp- 
bell, humiliated  and  disgusted,  slunk  away  vowing  to 
himself  that  until  he  familiarized  himself  thoroughly 


AND   THE  PIONEER  135 

with  this  mysterious  civilization,  he  would  never  again 
make  a  move  or  express  an  opinion  before  he  had  sounded 
the  pioneer  on  the  subject. 

The  judges  were  not  long  in  getting  the  horses  started. 
They  came  down  the  track  "nose  and  nose."  The  new 
horse's  style  was  magnificent,  and  the  backers  of  the  gray 
mare  became  very  much  excited.  "Look,  look,  the  new 
horse  has  his  mouth  wide  open.  The  boy  is  holding  him. 
If  he  would  let  him  out,  he  would  outrun  the  wind.  We 
are  gone,  ruined,  taken  in." 

The  racers  came  in  neck  and  neck  until  within  about 
thirty  yards  of  the  end  of  the  track,  then  the  rider  of 
the  horse  loosed  his  rein  and  tapped  him  with  a  raw- 
hide, and  he  spurted  to  the  lead  and  crossed  the  score  with 
a  twenty-two-foot  jump. 

The  backers  of  the  horse  went  wild  with  joy,  while 
the  backers  of  the  gray  mare  assumed  the  attitude  of 
those  who  try  to  do  something  smart  and  get  in  jail. 
There  was  no  interest  taken  in  the  second  heat  except 
to  admire  the  grandeur  of  the  new  horse.  This  heat  re- 
sulted the  same  as  the  first  one  had. 

The  bets  were  promptly  paid,  and  it  soon  leaked  out 
that  this  was  the  famous  "Red  Buck,"  procured  and 
brought  in  especially  to  play  even  with  those  who  brought 
in  the  gray  mare  with  which  to  dethrone  One-eyed  Riley. 

The  evening  promised  much  for  the  little  town. 
The  winners  generously  asked  their  friends  to  eat,  drink, 
and  be  merry  with  them. 

After  supper  Mr.  Thompson,  an  old  gray-haired  and 
gray-bearded  gentleman,  also  a  liberal  winner  and  one  of 
those  who  could  recite  Webster's,  Calhoun's,  and  Clay's 
speeches,  and  who  could  repeat  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 


136  THE  PILGRIM 

pendence,  climbed  upon  a  dry  goods  box  in  front  of  the 
store  and  said: 

"My  dear  followers  of  Red  Buck.  The  hand  of 
Providence  has  been  magnanimously  opened  to  us  today, 
and  as  we  made  good  use  of  the  talents  entrusted  to  us, 
they  have  been  doubled. 

"When  destiny  doubled  our  abilities,  it  doubled  our 
responsibilities.  E"ow,  sirs,  let  every  favored  one,  in 
accordance  with  his  ability,  load  himself  with  the  neces- 
saries of  life  and  go  forth  to  feed  the  hungry  and  clothe 
the  naked  according  to  their  several  necessities." 

The  winners  poured  into  the  store  and  started  every 
clerk  to  putting  up  sugar,  coffee,  bacon,  and  flour,  until 
all  were  loaded.  They  took  the  end  of  a  box,  inscribed 
upon  it  in  large  letters,  "The  Red  Buck  Relief  Corps," 
appointed  a  boy  to  carry  it  as  a  banner,  then  every  win- 
ner got  a  broom,  strung  his  groceries  upon  the  handle, 
and  marched  out  and  distributed  liberally  to  every  poor 
family  in  town;  wherever  they  observed  a  child  poorly 
clad  they  marched  it  to  the  store  and  clothed  it. 

About  the  time  their  charitable  work  was  completed, 
Mr.  Campbell,  a  member  of  this  spectacular  army  who 
was  wholly  unaccustomed  to  strong  drink,  fell  by  the 
wayside, — ailment,  too  much  liquification.  His  com- 
rades brought  him  into  the  store  and  searched  for  his 
pulse  and  heart  beat,  but  could  detect  neither.  They  pro- 
nounced him  dead. 

They  immediately  began  preparation  for  the  burial. 
They  brought  up  a  long,  deep  broom  box  as  a  coffin, 
bought  white  sheets  and  wound  him  in  them  as  a  shroud, 
then  gently  laid  him  in  the  rough  box. 

One  of  the  corps  asked  Mr.  Thompson  where  they 
could  bury  him.  Said  he,  "Comrades,  the  ground 


AND  THE  PIONEER  137 

is  frozen  and  the  ice  is  four  inches  thick  on  the 
deep  pool  under  the  bridge  across  the  Saguache  river  in 
the  southern  part  of  the  town.  I  would  suggest  that  we 
secure  an  ax,  cut  a  vault  in  the  ice,  and  bury  him  in 
the  Saguache."  Everyone  thought  this  a  happy  idea.  Mr. 
Thompson  appointed  pall-bearers.  They  secured  ropes  to 
lower  the  coffin,  an  ax  to  cut  the  ice,  picked  up  the  coffin, 
and  "The  Red  Buck  Eelief  Corps"  solemnly  marched  to 
this  watery  cemetery.  The  pall-bearers  put  the  coffin  on 
the  ice,  took  the  measure,  moved  it,  cut  the  vault,  then 
waited  for  the  final  ceremony. 

Mr.  Thompson  arose:  "When  in  the  course 
of  human  events  it  becomes  necessary  for  one  member 
of  'The  Red  Buck  Relief  Corps'  to  dissolve  the  pleasant 
bonds  that  bind  him  here,  and  to  assume  among  the 
powers  on  high  the  separate  and  exalted  station  to  which 
the  laws  of  nature,  nature's  God,  and  the  tenets  of  the 
'Red  Buck  Relief  Corps'  entitle  him,  a  decent  respect  for 
the  memory  of  the  departed  requires  that  we  should  de- 
clare the  regrets  that  we  feel  at  this  unexpected  dissolu- 
tion. 

"  'The  Red  Buck  Relief  Corps'  hold  these  principles  to 
be  self-evident,  that  all  men  are  not  created  equal  as  proven 
by  the  early  fall  of  our  brother;  but  while  we  are  en- 
dowed with  certain  inalienable  rights,  among  which  are 
the  privileges  of  eating,  drinking,  and  wearing  whatever 
is  most  congenial  to  our  pursuit  of  happiness,  every  in- 
dividual is  responsible  for  the  abuse  of  that  exalted  priv- 
ilege: To  secure  these  inalienable  rights,  tailor  shops, 
restaurants,  and  saloons,  are  licensed  by  law,  that  a 
man  may  have  his  liberty  or  have  his  death  by  the  con- 
sent of  the  governors  as  well  as  of  the  governed.  But 
when  a  long  train  of  dissipations  evinces  a  design  on  the 


138  THE  PILGRIM 

part  of  a  free  man  to  submit  himself  voluntarily  to  the 
absolute  depotism  of  some  vile  wine-vender,  then  it 
is  the  right  of  the  Creator  and  a  benefit  to  the  creature 
to  have  the  unhappy  union  existing  between  his  body  and 
spirit,  dissolved;  all  of  which  has  been  wisely  attended 
to  in  the  case  of  our  erring  comrade,  his  spirit  has  gone 
thither,  and  we,  his  mourning  associates,  are  now  about 
to  consign  to  the  dust  whence  it  came,  this  vacant  house 
of  clay.  The  pall-bearers  may  now  lower  the  coffin  to 
the  bottom  of  this  pure,  chaste,  ice  vault,  where  the  pallid 
worm  and  solvent  elements  of  dissolution  cannot  enter  for 
a  season." 

The  pall-bearers  lowered  the  coffin  to  the  bottom  of 
the  river,  and  as  the  cold  water  poured  over  the  victim 
he  raised  his  head,  there  being  no  lid  on  the  coffin,  and, 
between  spasmodic  coughs,  screamed  to  the  top  of  his 
voice.  Mr.  Thompson  said,  "Raise  the  coffin,"  and  the 
wet  inmate  sat  up  crying,  "What  are  you  doing  with  me, 
and  where  am  I?" 

Mr.  Thompson  answered,  "My  brother,  you  were  as 
dead  as  Lazarus  when  we  brought  you  here,  but  when  your 
vile  and  filthy  body  was  immersed  in  and  purified  by 
the  magic  touch  of  these  Ganges-like  waters,  you  were 
born  again,  as  it  were.  This  is  the  resurrection  morn  with 
you;  the  spirit  that  took  its  flight  from  that  body  of  cor: 
ruption  and  left  it  tenantless,  returned  to  the  body  washed 
clean  in  these  purifying  waters." 

"Well,"  whispered  the  man  of  the  second  birth,  "if 
you  do  not  get  me  to  a  fire  pretty  soon  I  fear  it  will 
go  again.  My  bed  clothes  are  covered  with  a  sheet  of 
ice."  They  pulled  him  out  of  the  frozen  winding  sheets, 
got  him  on  his  numb  feet,  and  dragged  him  to  the  store, 


COLD  WATER  BRINGS  THE  DEAD  TO  LIFE. 


140  THE  PILGRIM 

got  him  some  dry  clothes,  and  warmed  him  up.  The 
shock  made  him  the  most  sober  man  in  the  relief  corps. 

This  day  will  always  be  remembered  as  a  time  when 
the  wealth  of  San  Luis  valley  was  re-distributed ;  the  time 
when  the  intriguers,  who  brought  in  the  gray  mare  to 
destroy  the  idol  and  humiliate  the  owner  of  One-eyed 
Riley,  received  their  just  retribution.  The  old  pioneers 
nod  their  heads  and  say,  "This  is  the  day  when  everyone's 
chickens  in  Milton  came  home  to  roost." 

Mr.  Wickham  said,  "That  vindicates  the  losers  on 
One-eyed  Riley,  that  vindicates  'The  Holy  Creed/  though 
on  somewhat  questionable  grounds ;  but  I  had  to  have  the 
excitement." 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE  LOST  PAY^STREAK. 

Mr.  Wickham  returned  to  Gushing  Springs  after 
many  years  absence,  and  found  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Marks 
living  in  a  frazzle-edged,  leaky  old  tent,  and  they  and 
their  children  in  rags  and  existing  on  fat  bacon-sides  and 
bread.  Daily  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Marks  worked  on  the 
Emerald  Isle  expecting  to  cut  the  pay-ore-streak  that 
they  had  lost  half  a  dozen  years  before.  They  were  not 
able  to  hire  miners,  so  the  husband  went  down  in  the 
mine  early  in  the  morning  and  drilled  the  holes,  and  put 
off  the  blasts  at  noon.  The  smoke  cleared  from  the 
shaft  while  he  ate  his  fat  bacon  and  bread.  After  din- 
ner he  filled  the  buckets  with  the  results  of  his  shots  at 
the  bottom  of  the  deep  shaft,  and  Mrs.  Marks  wind- 
lassed  them  to  the  surface.  At  night  the  shots  were  put 
off  again,  and  after  supper  Mrs.  Marks  brought  the 
rock  to  the  surface,  and  so  they  worked  day  after  day. 
Between  the  times  of  windlassing  the  rock  from  the 
deep  shaft,  Mrs.  Marks  was  bending  over  the  wash  tub, 
earning  the  money  to  buy  the  powder,  fuse,  flour,  and 
bacon,  to  keep  the  good  work  going. 

After  supper  Mr.  Wickham  went  over  to  the  tent 
of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Marks,  and  was  horrified  at  the  wild,  hag- 
gard countenance  of  parents  and  children,  and  at  the 
signs  of  squalor  everywhere. 

The  topsy-turvy  tent,  the  dishevelled  hair,  the  bleared 
eyes,  the  gaunt,  emaciated  forms,  the  naked  and  unwashed 
bodies,  and  the  intense  concentration  of  all  minds  on 

(141) 


142  THE  PILGRIM 

cutting  the  pay  streak  of  the  Emerald  Isle,  made  this  seem 
more  like  the  abode  of  a  family  of  infernal  fiends  than 
that  of  an  ordinary  American  household.  Mr.  Wickham 
anxiously  inquired,  "You  haven't  heen  here  all  these 
years  ?" 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Marks  excitedly  ejaculated  in  concert: 

"Not  one  of  us  has  been  off  Bald  Mountain  since 
we  lost  the  pay  ore,  but  two  of  the  children  have  been 
buried  here  since,  and  we've  taken  an  oath  that  we 
will  all  be  planted  here,  or  find  that  pay  streak  again. 
We'll  stay  till  doom's  day  or  catch  it.  We  know  that 
it  is  here  and  how  would  we  feel  to  have  Eastern  tender- 
feet  come  along  here  and  find  it  after  we  are  gone,  and 
enjoy  all  of  our  hard  work.  Oh!  we  will,  we  must  have 
it  ourselves." 

Mr.  Wickham  inquired,  "Why  did  you  move  out  of 
your  residence  ?" 

The  old  man  replied:  "Oh,  the  mortgagee  got  im- 
patient for  his  money,  and  wouldn't  wait  until  we  cut 
the  pay  streak  in  the  Emerald  Isle,  but  took  our  house 
and  Sally's  jewelry  on  the  mortgage;  we  can  get  another 
house  and  more  jewelry  when  we  strike  the  pay  streak, 
and  maybe  we  will  build  in  Denver  where  the  children 
can  go  to  school,  and  get  better  jewelry  next  time." 

Mr.  Wickham  asked  what  was  the  use  of  working 
themselves  to  death  for  wealth  they  would  not  enjoy  by 
reason  of  broken  down  constitutions, .  if  they  found  it  ? 

"Well,"  answered  Mr.  Marks,  "we  go  for  it  with 
all  our  might  because  we  know  that  it  is  there,  that's 
all.  I  don't  care  for  myself,  but  Sally  looks  so  tired 
at  night  that  I'm  ashamed  to  look  her  in  the  face.  I 
am  so  crippled  up  with  kidney  trouble  that  I  can't  work 
over  seven  or  eight  hours  a  day,  but  Sally  works  fifteen 


AND  THE  PIONEER  143 

or  sixteen  hours  every  day.  She  makes  a  hand  at  the 
windlass,  a  hand  at  the  washtub,  then  does  the  cooking 
and  looks  after  the  children.  When  we  cut  the  pay 
streak,  she  shall  have  the  lion's  share, — she  ought  to,  be- 
cause she  has  done  the  lion's  share  of  the  work.  All  I 
want  in  the  future  is  to  see  her  and  the  children  com- 
fortable and  happy.  I  want  nothing  more  for  myself 
except  to  cut  the  pay  streak  in  the  Emerald  Isle;  that  I 
must  and  will  do." 

Sally  modestly  answered:  "You  have  done  all  that 
you  could.  If  it  hadn't  been  for  your  kidney  trouble, 
we  would  have  had  the  pay  streak  a  long  time  ago.  While 
I  am  strong  I  don't  mind  fifteen  or  sixteen  hours  of  work 
a  day,  and  then  the  harder  I  work,  the  sooner  we  will 
get  the  pay  ore.  Whatever  we  get,  I  want  divided  equally. 
I  don't  want  it  all." 

Mr.  Wickham  suggested  that  it  was  very  well  to  be 
confident.  "But,  suppose  that  you  don't  cut  this  pay  ore, 
then  what  ?" 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Marks  both  began,  "There  is  no  ques- 
tion about  cutting  it.  All  we  want  is  time.  If  we  don't 
cut  it  our  children  will  soon  grow  up  and  they  will  find 
that  pay  streak.  We  are  working  day  and  night  now  to 
catch  it  in  time  to  educate  them." 

Mr.  Marks  said,  "If  the  older  ones  hadn't  got 
married  and  gone  back  to  Kansas  to  starve,  it  would 
have  been  cut  before  now.  But  never  mind,  we  shall  will 
every  foot  of  it  to  the  younger  set  if  they  stay  with  us. 
We  would  not  think  of  selling  it  for  less  than  $1,000,000. 
We  know  our  successor  would  uncover  a  fortune  right 
away  if  we  should  sell." 

"What  if  he  cut  the  big  ore  chute  in  three  or  four  feet 
from  where  we  quit  ?  Wouldn't  it  be  awful  ?"  The  woman 


144  THE  PILGRIM 

said,  "O  me,  I  must  go  back  now  and  windlass  up  the 
rock  broken  in  the  last  two  shots.  It  will  take  me  until 
eleven  o'clock  tonight,  but  it  will  bring  us  just  four  hours 
nearer  the  pay  streak,  and  it  may  be  that  we  will  catch 
it  tomorrow,  who  knows  ?  There  is  always  something  to 
work  for  in  the  Emerald  Isle." 

As  Mr.  Wickham  moved  out  for  Saguache  the  next 
morning  he  soliloquized : 

"Ah!  I  find  myself  treading  on  the  threshold  of 
lean-bellied  pessimism.  I  should  feel  like  an  apostate, 
should  these  excited  people  fortunately  cut  the  pay-streak 
in  the  Emerald  Isle.  But  this  is  not  a  case  under  the 
Holy  Creed.  It  is  the  mining  fever  in  a  desperate  form. 
Yes,  a  craze,  a  double  craze.  What  channels  must  be 
worn  in  those  excited  brains  from  this  narrow  concen- 
tration of  intense,  monotonous  thought!  What  objects  of 
pity!  What  cruelty  to  the  poor,  thoughtless  children! 
These  deluded,  excited,  misguided  parents,  need  a  little 
trip  of  brain-scattering  excitement  on  the  frontier." 


CHAPTER  XI. 

TROUBLES  OF  A  TRIFLE. 

The  toll-road  had  just  been  completed  to  Lake  City, 
one  of  the  San  Juan  mining  camps,  and  the  pilgrims  had 
gone  thither  in  swarms,  Mr.  Wickham  with  them,  and 
Saguache  had  assumed  its  old  appearance  as  a  mere  supply 
point  for  the  great  cattle  and  sheep  industries  of  the  valley. 

The  cooperative  system  has  been  more  generally 
practiced  and  its  benefits  have  been  more  generally  real- 
ized in  the  cattle  industry  on  the  Western  plains  than  in 
any  other  industry  or  part  of  the  United  States,  barring 
the  state  of  Utah. 

The  cattle  here  run  on  the  commons,  or  vast  areas  of 
public  domain  which  are  not  fenced,  except  by  great  moun- 
tain ranges.  There  is  no  way  to  tell  one  man's  cattle 
from  his  neighbors'  except  by  the  brand  which  every  one 
must  put  on  his  range  animals  before  they  are  a  year 
old,  or  lose  ownership,  in  which  case  the  animal  becomes 
what  is  known  in  range  parlance  as  a  maverick,  and  must 
be  sold  for  the  benefit  of  the  cattle  association. 

The  law  requires  each  owner  to  select  a  brand  and 
have  it  recorded,  and  it  must  be  one  that  is  not  used  or 
recorded  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  State  by  any  other 
person. 

The  brands  are  often  symbolic  of  a  man's  name, 
or  are  letters,  or  figures,  or  a  combination  of  both,  in- 
dicating the  number  and  initials  of  a  firm. 

A  gentleman  by  the  name  of  Boot  may  have  a  stamp 
of  a  boot ;  a  man  named  Bell,  a  stamp  of  an  ordinary  cow 

(145)  THE  PILGRIM.— 10 


146  THE  PILGRIM 

bell ;  a  man  by  the  name  of  Shoe,  the  stamp  of  a  shoe, — 
all  made  of  iron.  This,  only  heated  sufficiently  to  kill 
the  roots  of  the  hair,  is  stamped  usually  on  left  shoulder, 
side,  or  hip  of  the  animal,  and  identifies  it  as  the  property 
of  the  owner  of  the  brand. 

Under  the  laws  of  Colorado,  and  probably  those 
of  the  range  states,  the  cattle  owners  organize  them- 
selves into  district  cattle  associations,  and  each  member 
carries  a  copy  of  the  brands  of  all  of  the  members. 

In  May  or  October  of  every  year  this  ,  asso- 
ciation elects  a  captain  who  is  the  authorized  executive 
officer  of  the  organization  that  year.  He  appoints  his 
lieutenants  and  fixes  days  and  places  for  rounding  up, 
branding,  and  returning  all  branded  strays  to  their  usual 
ranges,  and  taking  up  mavericks  and  selling  them  for 
the  benefit  of  the  association. 

The  captain  organizes  commissary  departments,  em- 
ploys cooks,  and  directs  the  place  where  different  ones 
shall  ride  and  what  each  shall  do. 

When  a  central  place  for  a  camp  has  been  selected, 
the  captain  directs  the  riders  to  go  in  every  direction 
and  to  bunch  all  cattle  found  at  this  camp.  Fires  in  which 
to  heat  branding-irons,  or  rods,  are  built  in  a  con- 
venient place,  and  adepts  are  appointed  to  do  the  branding. 

When  all  of  the  cattle  of  this  region  are  bunched 
at  this  common  point,  the  riders  hold  them  there,  and  the 
captain  selects  a  number  of  good  ropers  and  brand 
readers  to  go  into  the  bunch  and  rope  and  take  to  the 
branding-fires  all  unbranded  calves  or  mavericks.  The 
ropers  observe  the  brand  of  the  cow  the  calf  is  following, 
and  usually  the  mother  of  the  calf  follows  it  to  the 
branding-fires  and  pathetically  pleads  for  its  release; 


AND  THE  PIONEER  147 

the  brand  of  the  mother  is  quickly  put  on  the  calf,  and 
this  is  continued  until  all  calves  are  branded. 

Every  cattleman  selects  some  general  headquarters, 
builds  cabins,  corrals,  and  pastures,  and  expects  to 
keep  his  herd  in  this  neighborhood;  but  some  are  con- 
stantly straying  away  to  other  localities. 

At  these  round-ups  they  organize  what  they  call  the 
day  herd,  which  is  composed  of  such  cattle  as  are  found 
off  their  range,  these  being  returned  to  the  camp  of 
the  owners.  Throughout  the  year  men  riding  on  the 
range  brand  such  calves  as  they  see  that  were  missed 
at  the  round-ups,  whether  belonging  to  the  rider  or  to 
any  other  member  of  the  association,  and  in  this-  way 
great  savings  are  made. 

With  the  sheep  industry  it  is  quite  different.  Sheep 
being  less  persistent  in  their  nature  will  not  overcome 
difficulties  without  help,  and  they  are  the  prey  of  the 
coyote,  wolf,  mountain  lion,  and  dog,  hence  they  must 
be  closely  herded  in  the  day  and  corralled  at  night. 

As  sheep  graze  in  bunches,  they  tramp  out  and 
clean  up  the  grass  very  effectually  if  kept  in  one  place. 
Also  their  contact  with  shrubbery  and  the  shedding  of 
small  particles  of  greasy  wool,  leave  a  smell  distaste- 
ful to  cattle,  and  they  are  inclined  to  leave  the  sheep 
range;  hence  the  cattle  growers  are  strenuously  preju- 
diced against  the  moving  of  sheep  onto  ranges  they  have 
been  using  for  cattle,  and  many  unseemly  conflicts  arise 
between  the  two  branches  of  the  industry. 

As  a  result  of  moving  sheep  onto  ranges  heretofore 
used  by  cattle-men,  the  latter  killed  one  night  500 
head  of  the  herd  of  Messrs.  Dayton  &  Co.,  and  injured  a 
great  many  more.  The  sheep-men  contended  that  as  the 
public  domain  belonged  to  the  government  they  had  an 


148  THE  PILGRIM 

equal  right  to  occupancy;  the  cattle-men  conceded  this, 
where  the  sheep-men  occupied  a  range  first,  as  the  tendency 
of  sheep  is  to  drive  cattle  from  the  range;  the  cattle-men 
claim  that  they  are  effectually  ousted  by  the  putting  of 
sheep  on  their  range  and  insist  that  by  all  rules  of 
ethics,  other  things  being  equal,  the  first  in  time  is 
superior  in  right,  and  that  the  injury  done  by  putting 
sheep  on  the  range,  which  the  owner  knows  will  drive 
the  cattle  off,  is  quite  as  effective  for  the  owners  of  the 
sheep  and  as  injurious  to  the  cattle-men,  as  if  done  by  the 
force  of  arms.  Say  the  cattle-men,  "You  might  as  well 
set  your  dogs  on  our  cattle  and  drive  them  from  the 
range  as  to  set  your  sheep  on  them  and  drive  them  off." 

When  Mr.  Campbell  re-entered  his  office,  after  a 
most  delightful  and  rejuvenating  vacation!,  a  German 
merchant  followed  him  and  abruptly  throwing  a  bill 
against  John  Benton  upon  his  desk,  said : 

"I  vant  you'l  sue,  right  quick  avay,  on  dis  pill." 

"My  dear  sir,"  said  Mr.  Campbell,  "it  will  cost 
you  twenty  dollars  to  collect  three,  leaving  you  seventeen 
dollars  worse  off  when  you  have  made  your  collection." 

"Val,"  said  the  merchant,  "hacording  mit  your  logic, 
hi  vil,  but  hacording  mit  mine  logic,  hi  vin.  Shon  Benton 
hoes  mit  me  tree  dollars ;  hif  I  not  sue  mit  im,  he  no  pay 
mit  me ;  one  hundred  men  more  owe  mit  me  tree  dollar ; 
hif  I  no  sue  mit  some  of  em,  none  of  em  pay  mit  me, 
han  loose  mit  me  tree  hundred  dollar.  Ven  hi  sue  mit 
Shon  Benton  for  tree  dollar,  one  hundred  men  mit  out 
suit,  pay  mit  me  tree  dollar ;  ont  hi  spend  mit  suit  -  on 
Shon  Benton  $20  ont  get  mit  me  tree  hundred  dollar." 

Mr.  Campbell  replied,  "Your  logic  is  sufficient  I 
shall  bring  your  suit  in  the  county  court,  which  will 
sit  in  a  couple  of  weeks." 


AND  THE   PIONEER  149 

Immediately  on  the  German's  departure,  another 
man  appeared  and  ordered  a  replevin  of  two  cows  and 
two  calves  in  the  county  court  at  once. 

ISText  came  Messrs.  Dayton  &  Caldwell,  and  told  the 
thrilling  story  about  the  way  the  cattle-men  drove  off  their 
herders,  killed  500  of  their  sheep  and  drove  others  from 
the  range,  greatly  damaging  many  of  them;  they  wanted 
suit  brought  at  once  for  damages. 

Mr.  Campbell  worked  all  day  and  late  into  the  night, 
getting  his  suits  started,  and  spent  a  number  of  subse- 
quent days  in  gathering  testimony. 

When  court  convened,  the  defendants  had  a  very 
good  attorney  present  from  Canon  City.  He  moved  for 
a  postponement  for  one  day  that  he  might  look  into  the 
papers. 

When  the  coach  arrived  in  the  evening,  a  buzz  of 
excitement  spread  through  the  town. 

Everyone  was  saying,  "John  Heald  has  brought 
in  Joshua  Wickham,  the  optimist,  formerly  from  the 
Arkansas  Valley,  to  settle  these  lawsuits." 

Mr.  Campbell  asked  the  sheriff  why  the  return  of 
his  old  friend  Wickham  created  such  a  hubbub  in  the 
town? 

"From  his  past  history  in  settling  disputes  and  sub- 
stituting tranquility  and  sunshine  for  turmoil  and  dark 
shadows,"  replied  the  sheriff.  "The  people  have  been  ex- 
pecting the  most  exciting  trial  between  the  sheep  and 
cattle-men  that  ever  occurred  here,  and  probably  a  dead 
man  or  two,  but  the  arrival  of  this  man  means  we  shall 
have  no  trial.  That  man  has  superceded  the  courts  wher- 
ever he  has  lived,  and  has  settled  more  difficulties  than 
all  the  courts  and  juries  in  the  valley.  Instead  of  the 
cattle-men  and  sheep-men  joining  in  a  tug  of  war  to-mor- 


150  THE  PILGRIM 

row  morning  or  killing  each  other,  he  will  have  them 
walking  up  and  down  these  streets  with  their  arms  around 
each  other  hefore  night." 

After  supper  the  disputants  and  their  attorneys 
were  invited  into  the  parlor  of  the  hotel,  and  the  famous 
Mr.  Wickham  arose  and  related  his  trip  across  the  plains 
with  a  bull-team  in  1849,  and  the  settlements  in  this 
country  when  they  had  no  officers  or  courts,  and  the 
manner  in  which  they  compromised  their  differences.  He 
gave  case  after  case  where  greater  differences  existed 
than  were  involved  in  this  suit  and  telling  how  mutual 
friends  advised  the  contestants  to  make  mutual  con- 
cessions, settle  the  same,  and  continue  to  be  friends 
and  neighbors. 

He  contrasted  these  primitive  and  unofficial  meth- 
ods and  their  results,  with  like  difficulties  which  arose 
after  courts  were  organized  and  officers  installed.  He 
said  the  courkcases  dragged  along  for  years,  keeping  the 
blood  of  the  litigants  at  fever  heat,  and  often  resulted 
in  murders,  widows,  orphans,  and  murder  trials,  ulti- 
mately impoverishing  all  of  the  parties  and  destroying 
the  comfort,  tranquility,  and  happiness  of  their  families, 
and  in  the  end,  usually,  the  one  with  the  largest  bank 
account  prevailed. 

He  graphically  described  the  facility  with  which 
persons  could  get  into  individual  and  property  difficul- 
ties, commit  crime,  etc.,  and  mix  up  in  litigation,  and 
the  great  expense  and  annoyance  involved  in  extricating 
one's  self  from  its  persistent  coils. 

He  said  men  rarely  get  into  lawsuits  that  do  not 
bring  them  sore  regrets,  but  after  they  have  been  in  a 
short  time  the  cost-bill  becomes  so  enormous  that  it  be- 
comes a  more  anxious  matter  of  contention  as  to  who 


AND  THE  PIONEER  151 

shall  pay  the  costs  than  the  original  matter  of  dispute, 
and  this  prevents  a  settlement  until  a  judgment  of  a 
court  of  last  resort  is  obtained,  generally  ruining  one 
party,  if  not  both. 

He  said:  "No  man  ever  committed  a  murder  who 
would  not  in  one  hour  afterward  give  all  of  his  posses- 
sions if  thereby  he  could  undo  it. 

"The  people  must  be  educated  in  the  moral  hygiene 
of  the  avoidance  of  crime  and  ruinous  mistakes  against 
their  wives,  their  children,  and  themselves." 

He  pointed  out  the  inclination  of  disputants  always 
to  look  at  the  contention  from  the  selfish  point  of  view, 
and  to  make  no  kind  of  a  concession  to  induce  a  settle- 
ment, knowing  at  the  same  time  that  after  they  pay  a 
large  fee  to  a  lawyer,  much  court  expense  and  witness 
fees,  lose  weeks  of  time  at  the  trial,  and  endure  the  dis- 
turbance of  mind  incident  to  such  disputes,  the  court  and 
jury  will  make  concessions  for  them,  and  compromise 
the  difference  between  them  and  their  neighbors.  "Why 
should  not  you,  without  price,  do  for  yourself  what  you 
dearly  pay  the  courts  and  juries  to  do  for  you  ?  Do  not 
feel  humiliated  at  concessions  or  compromises.  The  very 
government  under  which  we  live — the  Constitution  it- 
self— is  the  result  of  a  compromise." 

He  then  turned  to  the  attorneys,  saying: 

"Now,  my  legal  friends,  I  do  not  want  to  invade 
your  province  or  disturb  your  legitimate  business.  It  is 
the  duty  of  these  litigants  to  pay  you  liberally  to  assist 
in  this  settlement.  The  learned  profession  to  which  you 
belong  has  ever  been  a  bulwark  to  human  liberty,  and  a 
stimulous  to  individual  and  national  progress.  You  have 
doubtless  observed  in  the  unfolding  of  the  higher  civili- 
zation that  the  more  advanced  the  individual  citizen, 


152  THE   PILGRIM 

the  less  theology  and  the  more  Christianity  is  preached 
by  the  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  with  an  .increase  in  the 
number  of  exalted  precepts  and  examples  applied  to  every- 
day life;  the  higher  the  civilization  of  the  masses,  the 
less  the  physic  given  by  the  doctors,  and  the  more  gen- 
eral the  dependence  on  temperance  in  diet  and  drink, 
personal  cleanliness,  wholesome  exercise,  pure  air,  nu- 
tritious food,  and  a  general  application  of  hygienic  laws ; 
and  the  more  advanced  the  people  are  in  intelligence, 
the  fewer  the  lawsuits  and  the  greater  the  number  of 
amicable  settlements, — the  number  of  court  trials  de- 
creases in  proportion  to  the  increase  in  the  average  intel- 
ligence of  the  masses  of  the  people. 

"These  changes  do  not  foreshadow  a  decadence  in  the 
professions,  but  rather  a  transition  from  remedies  appro- 
priate to  a  stage  of  civilization  when  the  individual  was 
not  amenable  to  remedies  that  did  not  partake  of  dras- 
tic forces,  intimidating  fear,  and  magical  superstition, 
to  the  more  exalted  stage  of  development,  where  the  benef- 
icent sunlight  of  reason  is  the  guiding  star  for  both  the 
professionals  and  the  laymen.  It  is  the  inevitable  evolu- 
tion— the  execution  of  the  law  of  the  survival  of  the  fit- 
test, scientifically  applied.. 

"Now,  I  should  like  to  have  the  views  of  all  of  the  lit- 
igants, not  regarding  your  griefs,  injuries,  or  any  exhi- 
bitions of  your  malice, — these  things  pertain  to  the  past. 
Let  us  consider  only  the  logic  of  using  your  own  free 
intelligence,  and  the  making  of  mutual  concession  your- 
selves, instead  of  hiring  at  fabulous  prices  the  intelli- 
gence of  courts  and  juries  to  make  concessions  and 
compromise  for  you,  for  they  will  adopt  conciliatory  meth- 
ods, and  act  for  you  just  as  you  should  act  for  your- 
selves." 


AND  THE  PIONEER  153 

Mr.  C  aid  well,  the  oldest  of  the  litigants,  arose  and 
said: 

"I  have  been  much  affected  by  the  common  sense 
talk  of  our  friend,  and  feel  that  he  is  another  Daniel 
brought  to  judgment.  As  for  myself,  I  am  willing  that 
each  party  shall  briefly  state  his  case,  and  let  Mr.  Wick- 
ham  render  a  final  judgment.!' 

One  after  another  arose  and  informed  the  Pioneer 
that  Mr.  Caldwell  had  expressed  his  sentiments,  until 
all  had  been  heard. 

The  parties  made  their  statements.  Mr.  Wickham 
required  the  defendants  to  pay  for  the  sheep  killed  and 
a  reasonable  sum  for  maiming  others;  he  required  the 
sheep-men  to  move  south  of  a  line  he  designated  and  not 
to  cross  this  line  in  the  future;  and  each  party  was  ad- 
judged to  pay  its  own  costs. 

The  parties  all  shook  hands,  wined  and  dined  to- 
gether, carried  out  the  judgment,  and  ever  afterward 
lived  in  peace  and  harmony. 

The  parties  in  the  replevin  suit  for  the  two  cows  and 
calves,  imbibed  the  general  spirit  of  conciliation  and 
asked  Mr.  Wickham  to  pass  judgment  on  their  case.  They 
had  been  in  copartnership  and  failed.  One  claimed  the 
cows  as  his  personal  property,  the  other,  that  the  firm 
owned  them. 

Mr.  Wickham  awarded  one  cow  to  the  plaintiff  and 
one  to  the  defendant,  and  suggested  that  if  the  attorneys 
would  accept  the  calves  in  payment  of  their  fees  it  would 
be  a  happy  settlement.  They  cheerfully  accepted  the 
offer.  The  litigants  drove  their  cows  together  to  their 
homes  and  were  good  neighbors  and  friends  in  the  future. 

While  everybody  was  intoxicated  with  the  beneficent 


154  THE  PILGRIM 

fluid  of  amicability,  some  one  suggested  the  settlement 
of  the  $3.00  suit  and  the  breaking  up  of  the  court. 

Several  of  the  most  enthusiastic  compromisers  hur- 
ried away  and  brought  the  merchant  and  John  Benton 
before  the  august  tribunal,  and  informing  them  how  the 
other  cases  had  been  compromised,  suggested  a  like  set- 
tlement of  this  little  case,  and  the  adjournment  of  court. 

"Vel,"  said  the  merchant,  "Shon  Benton  vas  me 
owed  tree  dollar  for  a  year  or  more,  and  if  he  vil  pay 
tree  dollar  han  costs,  hi  de  suit  dismiss." 

The  defendant  flew  into  a  passion,  said  he  had  paid 
the  plaintiff  hundreds  of  dollars,  and  would  have  paid 
this  when  able,  but  as  the  plaintiff  had  sued,  he  never 
would  pay  it,  that  he  had  nothing  but  his  muscle  and 
that  was  hardly  attachable,  and  that  he  should  not  be 
at  court,  as  he  expected  to  leave  the  county  the  next 
morning. 

"Well,  Mr.  Benton,"  replied  Mr.  Wickham,  "this 
is  none  of  my  business,  but  I  really  think  that  man  re- 
sembles the  divine  most  closely  in  the  faith  he  keeps 
with  his  fellows;  and  not  only  this,  but  honesty  is  cer- 
tainly the  best  policy.  The  whole  evolution  of  Nature 
tends  toward  the  ultimate  prevalence  of  justice,  and  the 
visiting  of  penalties  on  all  who  walk  in  crooked  paths. 
In  days  to  come  a  judgment  for  $3.00  and  a  large  bill  of 
costs  and  interests  will  overtake  you  at  an  inopportune 
time  and  cause  you  bitterly  to  lament  the  day  you  could 
have  paid  an  honest  trifle  and  refused,  thereby  calling 
down  upon  yourself  a  severe  retribution." 

The  defendant  looked  at  him  with  a  silent  con- 
tempt, rose  and  walked  away,  and  the  next  morning  took 
the  coach  for  the  Gunnison  country. 

The  old  veteran  exclaimed :     "But  a  partial  victory ! 


AND  THE   PIONEER  155 

I  lost  only  in  proportion  to  my  apostasy  to  the  Holy 
Creed. 

When  Mr.  Benton's  case  was  called  in  the  county 
court  the  Judge  asked : 

"Do  you  wish  to  prove  up  before  the  Judge  ?" 

The  plaintiff  shook  his  head  and  answered: 

"I  vant  a  ury." 

"Oh!"  replied  Mr.  Campbell,  "the  defendant  will 
not  be  here,  and  we  might  as  well  prove  up  before  the 
Judge." 

"Vel,"  answered  the  plaintiff,  "dot  mides  be  ef  et 
vas  unly  de  tree  dollar  hi  vant — but  hi  vant  to  hadvertise 
to  de  hundred  men  more,  howing  mit  me  tree  dol- 
lar— hi  vant  de  ury  to  hear  all  habout  de  tree  dollar  suit, 
and  tell  mit  de  oder  men  dot  owe  mit  me  tree  dollar." 

"Yes,"  suggested  Mr.  Campbell,  "we  shall  ask  a 
jury,  if  your  honor  pleases." 

The  jury  of  twelve  men  was  organized,  the  case 
proved  up,  and  judgment  given  the  plaintiff  for  $3.00 
and  $22.00  costs. 

The  plaintiff  hurried  off  to  the  Chronicle  office  and 
gave  the  publisher  $10.00  to  write  up  the  $3.00  suit  and 
the  fact  that  the  plaintiff  had  hired  Mr.  Campbell  to 
bring  suit  on  all  little  bills  which  had  been  outstanding 
for  more  than  a  year,  and  the  paper  incidentally  referred 
to  the  wise  settlement  of  the  stock  cases,  and,  as  a  disin- 
terested organ  of  the  dear  people,  urged  them  to  pay 
these  little  bills  at  once  and  save  these  useless  and  ruinous 
costs, — and  sent  each  debtor  a  paper. 

Within  two  weeks  the  German  had  collected  more 
"as  tree  hundred  dollar"  on  his  little  bills,  and  rejoiced 
in  the  discovery  that  he  was  a  greater  advertising  genius 
than  was  P.  T.  Barnum. 


156  THE  PILGRIM 

Two  years  later  some  extensive  stock  growers  from 
the  Cebolla  brought  their  wagons  over  the  range  to  get 
their  winter  supplies  of  Saguache  merchants.  They  ar- 
ranged to  pay  for  them  when  they  sold  their  steers.  After 
they  loaded  their  wagons,  one  of  them  said  to  our  Ger- 
man merchant  that  he  would  like  to  borrow  forty  dollars 
in  money  until  he  shipped  his  steers ;  that  he  would  pay 
a  good  rate  of  interest  for  it;  in  fact,  he  said,  he  had 
to  get  it  as  he  owed  forty  dollars  to  one  of  his  herders, 
John  Benton,  who  the  next  Sunday  was  going  to  marry 
their  cook. 

The  merchant  said: 

"Blease  excuse  mit  me  ha  moment." 

He  stepped  over  to  Mr.  Campbell's  office,  told  him 
of  this  conversation,  and  hurriedly  got  the  sheriff  to  go 
over  and  attach  the  forty  dollars  the  stock  growers  owed 
John  Benton,  for  the  purpose  of  paying  the  $3.00  judg- 
ment, $22.00  costs  and  the  interest  and  subsequent  costs, 
which  about  consumed  the  forty  dollars. 

When  the  stockman  returned  home  and  showed  John 
Benton  the  notice  of  the  garnishment  for  this  forty  dol- 
lars to  settle  his  old  judgment  and  costs,  it  created  great 
consternation  in  his  mind. 

He  had  to  postpone  his  wedding  for  two  months  until 
he  could  earn  forty  dollars  more.  He  was  constantly 
soliloquizing  during  this  time: 

"Yes,  truly,  honesty  is  the  best  policy.  Yes,  'the 
whole  tendency  of  Nature  is  that  ultimately  justice  shall 
prevail,  and  penalties  are  visited  upon  all  who  try  to 
walk  in  crooked  paths.' '  He  would  subtract  $3.00  from 
$40.00  and  then  say:  "The  penalty  is  $37.00— two 
months'  hard  work.  What  a  'penalty*  for  refusing  to 


AND  THE  PIONEER  157 

'pay  an  honest  trifle  of  $3.00.'  Now  I  must  pay  it  thir- 
teen fold." 

Forever  after  this  John  Benton.was  a  devotee  of  the 
honest  and  amicable  principles  of  Mr.  Wickham  and  the 
stockmen,  if  not  from  principle,  from  a  fear  that  the  in- 
exorable laws  of  Nature  would  visit  condign  punishment 
on  all  transgressors. 

These  examples  and  salutary  results  so  indelibly  im- 
bedded their  lessons  in  honesty,  amicability,  and  concilia- 
tion to  the  very  fiber  of  the  community,  and  the  wisdom 
of  using  individual  intelligence  and  making:  individual 
concessions  and  compromises  of  differences  between  neigh- 
bors in  the  same  way,  were  so  instilled  into  them,  that 
courts  of  justice  thereafter  were  more  ornamental  than 
useful  on  the  Saguache  River. 

Mr.  Wickham  said :  "Bloodshed,  poverty,  and  life- 
time enmities  are  avoided.  The  cursory  reasoner  per- 
sists in  claiming  that  no  man  falls  out  of  the  line  of  duty 
here,  but  some  other  just  as  good  will  come  forward  to 
take  his  place;  but  all  history  shows  that  these  rare  indi- 
viduals, such  as  Washington  or  some  great  general,  in- 
fluence the  current  of  affairs  for  good  and  make  more 
impression  on  civilization  than  combined  thousands  of 
their  fellows,  and  at  the  death  of  such  an  one  often  a 
real  void  is  left  unfilled  for  generations." 


CHAPTER  XII. 

A  NIGHT  IN  A  COW^CAMP. 

Mr.  Caldwell,  an  extensive  stock  grower,  an  old  Bour- 
bon Democrat,  an  educated,  polished,  and  gallant 
bachelor,  felt  so  good  after  the  settlement  of  the  stock 
suits  that  he  decided  he  must  celebrate  Christmas  a 
little  more  royally  than  formerly.  He  had  a  splendid 
round  log  house  or  cabin,  built  in  one  of  the  canons  of  the 
mountains  twenty-five  miles  away,  a  man  cook  and  a  large 
number  of  cowboys ;  but  such  a  luxury  as  a  woman  in 
that  canon  was  unheard  of. 

Mr.  Caldwell  invited  Mr.  Campbell,  the  book-keeper 
in  the  principal  store,  and  two  young  lady  friends  to 
drive  up  to  the  acow-camp"  Christmas  morning  and  wit- 
ness a  roping  and  branding  tournament,  and  to  eat  a 
bachelor's  Christmas  dinner  with  him.  The  young  ladies 
said  they  would  be  delighted  if  it  would  not  make  them 
too  late  in  reaching  home  for  the  evening. 

Mr.  Caldwell  informed  them  they  could  start  early, 
reach  the  camp  by  eleven  o'clock,  rest  until  noon,  see  the 
branding  tournament,  eat  dinner  at  2  p.  m.,  leave  at 
4  and  get  to  Saguache  by  8  P.  M.  They  all  accepted. 

Early  Christmas  morning  the  invited  guests  climbed 
into  a  two-seated  carriage  and  started  for  the  canon, 
reaching  there  a  little  after  eleven.  Mr.  Wickham  fol- 
lowed on  horseback. 

They  were  ushered  into  a  room  about  20  by  25  feet, 
with  two  large  beds  in  the  rear,  a  large  open  fireplace 
at  the  other  end,  the  floor  covered  here  and  there  with  wolf 

(159) 


160  THE  PILGRIM 

or  bear  skins,  two  nice  easy  chairs  with  foot  rugs  of  gray 
wolf -skins  prepared  for  the  ladies  near  the  large  fire-place 
with  its  roaring  fire,  and  three  tables  covered  with  new 
Navajo  blankets;  on  one  was  a  large  bowl  filled 
with  egg-nog;  on  another  a  bowl  of  orangeade  flavored 
with  sherry;  and  on  the  third  there  was  a  variety  of 
whisky,  brandy,  wine,  cigars,  and  a  couple  of  boxes  of 
candy,  etc. ;  hanging  on  the  walls  were  the  pictures  of 
Washington,  Jefferson,  Jackson,  and  other  noted  states- 
men. 

Leading  off  from  this  large  room  was  a  very  hand- 
somely furnished  smaller  room  into  which  the  ladies  were 
ushered  to  lay  off  their  wraps  and  to  arrange  their  toilet. 
When  they  all  got  around  the  fire  they  had  a  Christ- 
mas toddy,  and  when  they  had  finished  this  the  foreman 
of  the  cow-herd  appeared  in  high,  sharp-heel  boots,  with 
large,  clicking  steel  spurs,  dark  pants  stuffed  into  his 
red  boots,  a  blue  shirt,  with  a  leather  belt  around  his 
waist,  and  a  large  white  sombrero  on  his  head.  He  was 
presented  all  around,  then  in  a  low,  mellow  voice  said: 

"Ladies  and  gentlemen,  if  you  will  step  out  to  the 
rear  of  the  corral  we  will  show  you  how  the  dogs,  horses, 
and  boys  do  their  several  parts  in  working  a  bunch  of 
cattle." 

All  present  went  to  a  dry  field  near  the  barn  and 
there  saw  eight  or  ten  cowboys  on  their  cow-horses 
riding  around  about  two  hundred  head  of  cattle, 
which  were  moving  around  in  a  circle,  or  in  "cow- 
boy" parlance,  "milling."  There  were  also  five  or  six 
shepherd  dogs  walking  around  in  the  same  way.  If  any 
animal  attempted  to  leave  the  herd  or  circle,  the  cow- 
horse  and  dog  nearest,  without  being  told,  eagerly  started 


AND  THE  PIONEER  161 

to  turn  it  back.  About  fifty  yards  away  a  couple  of 
cowboys  had  a  glowing  fire  with  their  branding  rods 
in  it  and  two  fine  dogs  near.  After  watching  the  herd 
"mill"  or  turn  in  the  circle  of  riders  and  dogs  a  short  time, 
the  party  went  to  the  branding-fire. 

The  foreman  suggested : 

"Mr.  Johnson,  you  go  into  the  herd  and  bring  out 
one  of  those  large  yearlings ;  Mr.  Boggs,  you  can  help  him 
at  the  fire." 

Mr.  Johnson  fastened  one  end  of  his  lasso  to  the 
horn  of  his  saddle  with  a  bow  knot  and  a  long  end  so  he 
could  instantly  loosen  it,  should  he  get  into  a  close  place, 
took  the  other  erid  of  his  lasso,  made  a  large  loop,  and 
swung  it  over  his  head  until  the  loop  became  as  round 
as  a  barrel,  then  gently  dropped  it  over  the  head  of  a 
yearling. 

The  anxious  cow-horse  was  watching  every  move, 
and  the  moment  he  saw  the  catch  was  successful  he  bal- 
anced himself  on  his  hind  feet,  and  gently  turning  toward 
the  fire,  hurried  to  it,  dragging  the  calf  after  him. 
As  the  calf  neared  the  fire,  Mr.  Boggs  rode  up,  and 
swung  his  loop  over  his  head  until  it  formed  a  circle,  then 
gently  dropped  in  on  the  ground  under  the  calf's  belly, 
so  that  with  the  next  step  its  hind  feet  would  come  into 
the  loop.  Mr.  Boggs  pulled  up  the  other  end  of  the  rope 
and  it  tightened  around  the  hind  legs  of  the  calf.  The 
moment  his  horse  saw  the  throw  was  successful,  he  gently 
backed  up  in  the  opposite  direction  from  the  horse  that 
was  pulling  it  with  a  rope  around  its  neck,  leaving  the 
calf  suspended  between  these  horses,  one  holding  a  tight 
rope  around  its  neck  with  his  head  toward  the  fire,  the 
other,  with  his  head  toward  the  calf,  watching  its  every 
move,  pulling  a  rope  tight  around  its  legs. 


162  THE   PILGRIM 

The  riders  hurriedly  dismounted,  went  to  the  year- 
ling and  laid  it  on  its  right  side,  then  the  branders  with 
a  hot  bent  iron  ran  or  wrote  upon  its  side  "J.  C.,"  burn- 
ing it  just  enough  to  kill  the  roots  of  the  hairs.  This  be- 
ing finished,  the  cowboys  gave  an  exhibition  of  the  in- 
telligence of  their  horses.  They  called  the  one  by  name 
that  had  his  head  toward  the  calf  and  said,  "loosen  up." 
The  horse  took  a  short  step  toward  the  calf;  as  it  began 
to  struggle  to  get  up,  the  man  said,  "tighten  up,"  and  at 
once  he  tightened  the  rope.  Finally  they  called  to  the 
horses  to  loosen  up,  and  the  men  removed  the  ropes  and 
made  the  calf  arise ;  it  started  to  run  for  the  open  prairie, 
but  two  shepherd  dogs  were  on  guard  and  turned  it  back 
to  the  herd. 

Mr.  Johnson  then  rode  in  and  whirling  his  lasso, 
threw  his  loop  as  before,  but  intentionally  failed  to  drop 
it  over  the  head  of  the  animal.  The  anxious  horse  never 
offered  to  turn  for  the  fire,  but  anxiously  followed  the 
animal  at  which  his  owner  feigned  to  throw  the  rope, 
until  the  lasso  was  dropped  over  its  head,  then  he  in- 
stantly whirled  and  made  for  the  branding-fire  again. 
They  loosed  the  ropes,  turned  it  toward  the  prairie,  then 
let  their  horses  out  after  it.  They  would  shoot  by  it  and 
whirl  in  front  of  it,  and  the  moment  it  turned  and  started 
for  the  herd,  they  would  quiet  down. 

They  rode  into  the  herd  and  indicated  that  they 
wanted  to  get  some  certain  animal  out  of  the  herd.  The 
horses  incessantly  followed  that  one  throughout  the  herd 
of  two  hundred  until  they  got  it  out. 

They  saddled  an  old  stiff  horse  called  Jimmie,  and 
Mr.  Johnson  went  out  into  a  herd  of  wild  horses  and 
lassoed  a  large,  wild  stallion,  fastened  his  rope  to  the 
horn  of  his  saddle,  and  dismounted,  leaving  Jimmie  to 


AND   THE   PIONEER  163 

look  after  him.  The  wild  horse  bucked,  Jumped,  and  ran 
around  in  a  circle,  but  old  Jimmie  kept  his  front  feet 
and  his  head  at  all  times  facing  the  pitching  animal,  and 
as  he  would  run  around  him,  Jimmie  would  turn,  always 
keeping  his  eyes  toward  him  and  never  giving  any 
chance  to  wind  him  up  in  the  rope. 

Every  time  a  horse  did  his  part,  the  owner  would 
stroke  and  pet  him,  which  the  animal  seemed  to  appre- 
ciate thoroughly. 

Mr.  Campbell  went  to  the  foreman  and  said:  "If 
you  have  an  outfit,  I  would  like  very  much  to  ride  with 
you,  but  I  want  a  horse  that  is  perfectly  gentle." 

"Very  well/7  replied  the  foreman,  and  he  told  one 
of  the  boys  to  throw  a  rope  on  old  "Bart"  and  lead  him- 
out  of  the  herd.  The  foreman  brought  out  a  saddle,  bri- 
dle, blanket,  and  spurs,  and  the  young  man  led  old  Bart 
up,  handed  the  rope  to  Mr.  Campbell,  and  said:  "Throw 
that  saddle  on  him  and  you  will  find  him  all  right."  The 
men  then  went  away  to  the  cow-herd. 

Mr.  Campbell  sat  down  and  put  on  a  pair  of  large 
spurs,  got  up,  and  looking  over  his  outfit,  picked  up  the 
bridle;  as  he  walked  up  near  the  horse,  the  rowell  of  the 
spur  on  his  right  foot  caught  in  his  left  trouser  leg,  threw 
him  down,  and  tore  the  wide  hem  on  the  left  leg  of  his 
trousers  almost  off. 

He  grated  his  teeth,  and  jumping  to  his  feet,  gave 
the  horse  a  vicious  larrup  in  the  flank  with  the  bridle, 
though,  of  course,  the  animal  was  blameless.  Whereupon 
the  horse,  with  his  eyes  glistening  and  his  ears  thrown 
back,  shot  his  nose  right  into  Mr.  Campbell's  face  and 
snorted. 

In  great  fright  Mr.  Campbell  back-stepped  to  his 
saddle,  his  spurs  caught  in  the  blanket,  and -threw  him 


BM  i 


oq 


AND   THE  PIONEER  165 

sprawling  on  his  back.  The  horse  kept  right  up  to  him, 
and  when  he  fell  over  the  saddle,  the  horse  walked  astride 
of  his  legs,  stuck  his  nose  in  his  face  and  gave  an  excited 
snort. 

Mr.  Campbell  yelled  for  help,  scrambled  to  his 
hands  and  feet,  and  leaping  to  the  fence,  scaled  it,  look- 
ing back  at  the  pursuing  horse  all  the  time.  After  he  had 
his  hands  on  the  top  pole,  he  reached  for  an  imaginary 
one  higher  up,  and  the  small  resistance  of  the  light  air 
caused  him  to  take  a  header  and  fall  in  a  heap  on  the 
other  side  of  the  fence.  The  horse  pushed  his  head 
against  the  fence  and  gave  a  sonorous  snort.  Mr.  Camp- 
bell gained  his  feet  and  ran  like  a  frightened  wolf,  though 
there  was  a  ten-pole  fence  between  him  and  the  horse. 

Mr.  C  aid  well  and  his  foreman  hurried  to  the  young 
man's  rescue  and  asked  what  the  trouble  was. 

Mr.  Campbell  said  the  men  had  put  up  a  job  on 
him  and  had  given  him  an  old  outlaw  that  came  near 
trampling  him  to  death  before  he  could  get  the  bridle  on 
him. 

Mr.  Caldwell  replied,  "Oh,  no,  my  dear  sir.  I  beg 
your  pardon,  that  is  the  most  gentle  horse  on  the  ranch. 
I  see  your  trouble.  That  horse  has  been  whip  broken, 
that  is,  taught  to  walk  right  up  to  one  who  motions  a 
whip  at  him,  to  avoid  punishment,  and  when  you  struck 
him  that  blow  with  the  bridle  he  crowded  right  up  on 
you  to  avoid  further  punishment." 

Mr.  Campbell  replied  that  if  whip-broken  horses 
always  wanted  to  ride  the  man,  then  he  preferred  one 
broken  with  a  club,  that  would  allow  the  man  to  ride 
him. 

Mr.   Caldwell  expressed  his  sore   regrets,   and  Mr. 


166  THE  PILGRIM 

Campbell  hobbled  off  to  the  house,  and  borrowed  a 
needle  to  sew  up  his  crippled  pants. 

Mr.  Wood  then  went  in  and  threw  a  rope  on  a 
mare  that  had  a  young  colt,  tied  her  to  a  snubbing  post, 
and  turned  the  horses  all  out;  they  scampered  to  the 
branch,  drank  there,  hurried  back,  and  one  by  one  came 
up  and  saluted  the  colt  and  then  walked  away.  One  of 
the  young  ladies  asked  the  very  natural  question,  "Doesn't 
the  mare  drink  water,  too?" 

"Yes,"  answered  Mr.  Woods,  "I  shall  now  show 
you  the  object  in  keeping  her  tied  here."  He  loosened 
the  mare  and  turned  her  out  with  the  horses;  they 
all  made  a  run  for  the  range  and  it  gave  two  of  the  cow- 
boys a  lively  chase  before  they  could  turn  them  back. 

Said  Mr.  Woods,  "That  colt  is  a  tie  that  will  hold 
every  horse  here;  every  one  considers  it  his  particular 
duty  to  protect  it.  Many  inexperienced  persons  think  that 
horses  have  none  of  the  finer  sentiments  of  general  ten- 
derness, sympathy,  responsible  care,  and  the  finer  emo- 
tions. They  possess  all  of  these  to  a  marked  degree. 
Every  one  of  these  horses  has  been  as  tender  with  that 
mother  before  and  since  the  colt  was  foaled  as  ever  the 
Greek  fathers  were  with  motherhood  there,  when  they 
delighted  to  boast  of  the  most  perfect  and  handsome 
progeny  of  earth,  through  a  superior  regard  and  care  for 
motherhood;  and  that  bunch  of  horses  makes  as  much  of 
the  little  embryo  horse  in  their  midst  as  ever  a  regiment 
of  soldiers  did  of  a  baby  in  camp." 

"Well,"  said  one  of  the  young  ladies,  "I  was  always 
taught  that  only  man  has  reason,  but  these  horses  seem 
to  reason  as  much  as  the  men." 

"They  certainly  do,"  replied  the  foreman.  "The 
men  who  write  the  books  do  not  use  the  horses  and  dogs, 


AND  THE  PIONEER  167 

so  they  are  excusable  for  their  ignorance.  The  old  com- 
parison made  in  regard  to  a  very  practical  person  that  he 
or  she  'has  good  horse  sense/  is  not  an  idle  or  senseless 
one.  The  brain  of  a  well  broken  horse  does  not  have  con- 
volutions as  fine  as  those  of  a  philosopher,  but  it  has  the 
coarse,  deep  convolutions,  showing  not  only  the  power  of 
thought,  but  that  he  has  done  much  methodical  and  deep 
thinking.  Sometime  ago,  while  riding  old  Jimmy,  I  had 
a  long  lariat  securely  fastened  to  the  horn  of  my  saddle. 
I  threw  the  noose  in  the  other  end  over  the  neck  of  a 
five-year-old  Texas  steer,  ran  around  him  and  tripped  him 
in  the  usual  way,  and  left  Jimmy  to  hold  him  there  while 
I  ran  to  tie  him.  Just  before  I  reached  the  steer,  he 
gained  his  feet,  discovered  that  he  was  securely  tied  to  the 
saddle  on  the  horse,  and  seeming  to  regard  the  horse  as 
the  author  of  his  misfortunes,  made  a  vicious  assault  on 
him ;  the  horse  dodged  the  steer,  then  ran  around  him  and 
tripped  him  up  with  the  rope  in  the  usual  way,  tightened 
it  up,  and  tried  to  hold  him  there,  but  the  steer  got  up 
the  second  and  the  third  time;  this  horse  persisted  in 
throwing  him  until  he  held  him  down  the  third  time,  till 
I  could  get  there  and  tie  him.  When  I  loosened  the  lariat 
and  went  up  to  this  faithful  animal,  he  showed  his  joy 
at  our  success  as  much  as  any  one  of  the  men  could  have 
done;  that  horse  actually  laughed  in  his  gleeful  enjoy- 
ment of  our  success. 

"Many  times  in  chasing  cattle  about  dark  in  the  hills, 
where  the  contour  of  every  hillside  and  ravine,  monoton- 
ously like  every  other  one  in  that  vicinity,  so  confused 
me  that  I  would  lose  my  bearing,  I  would  alight,  and 
carelessly  dropping  my  rein,  which  would  indicate  that 
I  had  no  pressing  work  and  was  done  with  the  chase, 
would  then  slowly  and  carelessly  mount  and  without 


168  THE  PILGRIM 

touching  the  rein,  say,  'Get  up ;'  my  horse  would  invar- 
iably turn,  and  take  a  direct  course  for  the  camp  or 
home,  showing  that  he  has  a  much  stronger  power  of  lo- 
cation than  his  master.  The  memory  of  a  horse  is  some- 
thing marvelous.  I  have  halter-broken  colts  when  three 
months  old,  and  not  touched  them  again  till  five  years 
old,  yet  everything  I  taught  them  when  young  they  re- 
membered perfectly.  Some  time  since  I  was  standing  on 
a  high  point  of  the  mountain  overlooking  a  little  valley, 
and  saw  twenty-five  or  thirty  horses  in  a  great  commo- 
tion. I  thought  some  one  was  rounding  them  up,  but  I 
soon  noticed  them  forming  in  a  circle,  alternating;  one 
would  turn  its  head  outward,  the  next  inward,  all  around, 
Two  stallions  then  went  out  and  took  each  colt  by  the 
mane  and  pulled  it  inside  of  the  circle,  with  their  eyes 
fixed  on  a  patch  of  quaking  asp  trees  at  the  head  of  the 
park. 

"I  moved  down  to  the  quaking  asp  thicket  to  see  what 
was  attracting  them  there,  and  two  big  mountain  lions 
skulked  across  the  valley  and  over  the  hill  on  the  other 
side.  The  stallions  kept  their  eyes  riveted  intently  on 
the  lions  till  they  were  out  of  sight;  then  they  looked  at 
the  circle,  gave  a  low  neigh,  and  trotted  briskly  over  the 
hill  in  the  opposite  direction  from  the  lions.  The  circle 
broke  at  once,  and  the  herd  followed  them;  they  did  not 
stop  until  they  reached  a  valley  six  or  eight  miles  away, 
and  I  never  saw  that  bunch  of  horses  on  that  range  again. 
All  of  their  movements  for  defense  against  these  enemies 
were  as  orderly  and  systematic  as  those  of  a  company 
of  trained  soldiers  would  have  been,  and  they  seemed  to 
appreciate  fully  the  power  and  necessity  of  cooperation." 

Just  before  the  party  reached  the  house  a  fine  black 


AND  THE  PIONEER  169 

shepherd  dog,  called  Billy,  that  had  not  been  with  them, 
came  out  wagging  his  tail.  One  of  the  ladies  exclaimed: 

"That  fellow  must  he  a  dude,  to  sit  here  in  the  house 
while  the  others  do  the  work." 

"Now,"  answered  Mr.  Caldwell,  "you  are  very  much 
mistaken.  Billy  is  one  of  the  hardest  worked  dogs  on  the 
ranch.  We  have  a  complete  division  of  labor  among  the 
dogs.  Those  two  belong  at  the  branding-fires  to  turn  the 
animals  just  branded  back  into  or  away  from  the  herd, 
as  directed. 

"Billy  watches  the  house  and  if  any  stray  stock 
comes  he  chases  it  away.  He  goes  from  a  mile  to  a  mile 
and  a  half  for  the  milk  cows  every  evening.  When  the 
men  irrigate  the  hay  or  pasture,  he  goes  with  them  to 
catch  prairie-dogs. 

"These  dogs  burrow  in  the  ground  and  then  make 
an  outlet  some  thirty  or  forty  feet  away  from  the  inlet, 
which  lets  in  a  circulation  of  air  and  gives  them  a  chance 
for  escape  if  an  enemy  appears. 

"When  irrigating,  if  we  find  a  hole  with  fresh  signs 
of  prairie-dogs,  we  turn  the  water  into  the  hole  to  drown 
them.  They  would  go  out  at  the  escape  if  not  guarded. 
The  moment  the  water  is  turned  into  a  prairie-dog  hole 
Billy  finds  the  escape  and  crouches  down  within  four  or 
five  feet  of  the  hole  till  the  water  drives  the  dog  out, 
then  he  destroys  it. 

"We  bale  a  good  deal  of  hay  for  convenience  in  mov- 
ing it  from  cow-camp  to  cow-camp.  The  baler  is  pulled 
around  by  a  mule.  Billy  follows  and  drives  that  mule 
around  from  morning  till  night,  and  if  he  did 
not  do  this  one  of  the  men  would  have  to;  so  you  see 
Billy  is  not  a  dude,  he  will  do  his  work;  but  he  will  not 


170  THE   PILGRIM 

do  that  of  the  other  dogs  any  more  than  a  carpenter 
will  hire  out  to  saw  wood,  nor  will  they  do  his." 

"Mr.  Caldwell,"  suggested  one  of  the  young  ladies, 
"you  must  have  some  new  or  improved  strain  of  blood  in 
your  dogs  and  horses.  I  haven't  seen  them  anywhere  else 
so  well  trained  and  useful." 

"No,  they  are  the  ordinary  cow-horses  and  the  or- 
dinary shepherd  dogs.  They  are  not  only  trained  to  their 
work,  but  they  are  trained  to  like  it.  Every  time  they 
do  a  nice  thing  they  are  petted,  stroked,  and  often  fed. 
Those  horses  and  dogs  enjoy  the  excitement  of  working 
a  bunch  of  cattle  just  as  much  as  do  the  men. 

"You  speak  of  the  'strains  of  blood;7  let  me  illus- 
trate. Billy  had  two  brothers,  the  three  apparently  ex- 
actly alike.  We  took  him  and  trained  and  encouraged 
him  to  help  us — never  punished  him,  and  he  earns  as 
much  as  any  man  here.  The  men  who  got  the  other  two, 
kicked  and  cuffed  them  around  and  made  no  effort  to 
teach  them  patiently  what  they  desired  done,  and  their 
dogs  timidly  skulked  around  the  neighborhood,  afraid 
even  to  follow  the  men  or  go  about  the  house  when  they 
were  there,  fearing  a  beating,  and  both  are  utterly  worth- 
less. Horses  are  the  same,- — by  kindness  and  encourage- 
ment you  can  teach  them  almost  anything,  but  the  use  of 
force  makes  them  so  nervous  and  confused  that  they  can 
not  be  trained." 

When  they  reached  the  house  all  hands  were  pre- 
sented to  the  Pioneer,  all  took  an  egg-nog,  then  a  rosy- 
cheeked  young  man  with  a  blue  flannel  shirt,  dark  pants 
held  up  by  a  yellow  leather  belt,  and  sharp  heeled  boots 
with  his  pantaloons  stuffed  into  them,  came  to  the  door  and 
announced : 

"Dinner  is  now  ready." 


AND  THE   PIONEER  171 

Mr.  Caldwell  insisted  that  the  Pioneer  should  go  first, 
then  the  older  young  lady,  and  so  on  by  seniority.  The 
Pioneer  was  placed  at  one  end  of  the  table,  the  older 
young  lady  at  the  other,  the  other  young  lady  at  the 
Pioneer's  right,  and  the  other  ten  or  twelve  gentlemen 
filled  the  center.  With  grave  and  reverent  unction  the 
Pioneer  asked  the  usual  blessing,  then  as  elegant  and 
bountiful  a  repast  as  could  be  partaken  of  anywhere  was 
served  in  the  round  log  cabin  with  a  dirt  roof,  by  cow- 
boys ;  when  all  returned  to  the  large  room  the  cigars  were 
passed  to  the  gentlemen,  and  the  candies  to  the  ladies. 

While  they  were  at  dinner,  massive  dark  clouds  had 
gathered,  the  snow  was  falling  in  sheets,  and  the  wind 
was  blowing  at  a  velocity  of  forty  miles  an  hour. 

This  cast  a  gloom  over  the  Christmas  party.  Here 
were  two  young  ladies  in  a  rugged,  isolated  canon,  twenty- 
five  miles  from  settlement,  with  a  band  of  twelve  or  four- 
teen men,  mostly  what  the  world  would  call  tough,  un- 
gentlemanly,  and  uncouth  cowboys. 

Every  one  would  say : 

"It  will  quit  directly;"  but  it  was  4  P.  M.  and  if 
they  should  leave  then  they  could  not  reach  home  before 
8  o'clock.  To  divert  their  minds  from  their  perplexing  sit- 
uation Mr.  Wickham  declaimed,  then  some  of  the  boys 
who  were  good  singers  were  called  in,  but  the  wind  con- 
tinued to  rage  and  the  snow  was  so  deep  that  it  would 
be  unsafe  to  try  to  get  out  of  the  canon  that  night.  The 
ladies  were  almost  hysterical.  "What  if  it  is  not  snowing 
so  fiercely  in  Saguache?  What  will  the  folks  at  home 
think  has  become  of  us?  If  it  is  snowing  there  as  here 
will  they  think  we  are  lost  on  the  way?  Will  they  not 
be  up  here  hunting  us  before  morning?  What  will  the 
world  say?  What  will  the  gossip-mongers  say  about  us 


172  THE  PILGRIM 

staying  all  night  in  this  cow-camp,  and  no  one  here  but 
a  dozen  or  more  men  ?"  But  it  was  useless  to  worry.  It 
was  not  possible  to  make  the  trip  in  that  storm,  either 
by  day  or  night. 

Mr.  Caldwell  organized  a  euchre  game  and  tried  very 
hard  to  remove  the  depression  from  their  minds,  but 
the  nervous,  restless  feeling  was  constantly  depicted  on 
their  brows. 

They  were  not  at  all  afraid  of  the  cowboys;  they 
had  seen  them — they  were  perfect  gentlemen.  They  were 
not  afraid  they  would  not  be  comfortable,  because  the 
room  that  was  assigned  to  them  for  the  day,  had  every 
comfort  they  could  have  had  'at  home  except  their  night 
gowns, — such  articles  were  not  common  in  cow-camps, — 
but  these  they  could  do  without.  But  what  will  "the 
folks"  think — what  will  the  world  say?  These  were 
their  troublesome  forebodings? 

At  ten  o'clock  Mr.  Caldwell  said : 

"Well,  girls,  the  angry  elements  have  placed  you  in 
my  care  tonight  and  I  must  insist  that  you  go  to  bed  at 
the  usual  hour  that  you  may  be  equal  to  that  hard  trip 
tomorrow."  He  placed  the  key  on  the  inside  of  their  door, 
adding : 

"Now,  lock  yourselves  in  and  go  to  bed,  and  we 
four  gallant  young  knights  will  act  as  protecting  sentinels 
at  your  door."  They  bade  them  goodnight  and  retired. 

"How  is  the  egg-nog?"  inquired  the  Pioneer. 

"O, !"  replied  Mr.  Caldwell,  "It  is  all  right  and  an 
abundance  of  it.  I  haven't  passed  it  since  dinner  because 
I  saw  the  young  ladies  were  very  nervous  when  they 
learned  they  must  stay  here  till  morning,  and  I  was 
afraid  if  we  were  free  with  our  cups  it  might  add  to 
their  discomfort." 


AND  THE  PIONEER  173 

Mr.  Wickham  answered:  "That  is  another  evi- 
dence of  your  gallant  manliness." 

The  men  sat  up,  smoked,  and  talked  till  one  o'clock. 
Then  all  undressed  for  bed.  None  of  them  had  night 
dresses,  so  every  one  took  off  his  outside  garments  down 
to  his  undershirt.  The  Pioneer  undressed  first,  went 
to  the  table  of  bottles  and  took  a  drink  of  orangeade, 
then  walked  over  and  began  to  survey  Washington's  pic- 
ture on  the  wall. 

Mr.  Caldwell  suggested  that  all  take  one  more  nip  be- 
fore retiring. 

Mr.  Campbell,  in  a  butternut  undershirt,  was  at 
the  orangeade  table  pouring  a  drink,  the  book-keeper,  with 
a  blue  undershirt,  at  the  egg-nog  table  dipping  out  a 
drink;  Mr.  Downing,  in  a  white  undershirt,  at  the  table 
of  bottles,  while  the  Pioneer,  in  a  blood-red  undershirt, 
standing  under  the  picture  of  Washington,  was  earnestly 
appealing  to  his  spirit  to  return  and  drive  from  power 
the  depraved  Tories,  who  were  so  shamefully  staining 
the  bright  escutcheon  of  the  grand  government  he  so 
gloriously  contrived. 

The  three  auditors,  at  the  same  time  scanned  the 
four  with  their  variety  of  clothing,  and  the  earnest  orator 
and  his  silent  auditor,  and  all  involuntarily  burst  into  a 
loud  laughter;  immediately  one  of  the  young  ladies 
gave  an  agonizing  scream.  The  laughter  hushed  -as 
involuntarily  and  as  suddenly  as  it  started,  and  the  four 
courageous  gentlemen  sprang  to  the  door  of  the  room  of 
the  young  women  and  eagerly  tendered  their  assistance, 
without  it's  occurring  to  any  of  them  that  these  short 
undershirts  were  hardly  a  becoming  uniform  in  a  lady's 
chamber. 

As  the  gallant  Chesterfields  reached  the  door  of  the 


174  THE   PILGRIM 

ladies'  chamber,  they  heard  them  convulsed  with  laugh- 
ter. The  explanation  elicited  was  that  when  the  gentlemen 
broke  into  that  loud  laughter,  one  of  the  young  ladies 
dreamed  that  the  herd  of  cattle  they  were  reviewing  in  the 
morning  had  stampeded  and  was  about  to  run  over  her. 

The  next  morning  dawned  bright  and  clear,  but  the 
snow  was  deep.  They  got  into  Saguache  a  little  after 
noon.  It  was  rather  a  quiet  quartette  going  down.  The 
ladies  were  thinking: 

"What  will  the    world  say  about  last  night?" 

The  gentlemen  were  thinking : 

"Would  their  father  let  them  explain  at  all  or  would 
he  just  kill  them  on  sight  without  an  opportunity  to  pray 
or  explain;"  but  neither  public  nor  father  expected  that 
they  could  return  in  the  storm.  When  they  reached  the 
home  of  the  ladies  the  gentlemen  took  the  father  aside  and 
began  to  explain,  but  he  did  not  allow  them  to  finish.  He 
said: 

"I  knew  you  would  not  bring  them  out  in  the  storm. 
We  knew  they  were  all  right  at  the  cow-camp.  The 
world  speaks  of  the  wild  and  reckless  cowboys,  but  I 
never  heard  of  any  women  in  Colorado  receiving  an  in- 
dignity from  a  cowboy.  These  hardy  sons  of  nature,  in 
daily  communion  with  her,  breathing  pure  air,  and  work- 
ing for  a  living,  are  the  defenders,  rather  than  the  offend- 
ers, of  the  gentler  sex.  It  is  the  man  who  lives  in  the 
stifling  atmosphere  of  the  alcoholic  and  narcotic  fumes  of 
the  great  city  that  is  the  dreaded  foe  of  sexual  rights. 
These  crimes  are  perpetrated,  not  from  the  pressure  of 
abnormal  passions,  but  as  a  result  of  the  paralysis  of 
all  moral  sensibilities  through  dissipation,  or  of  an 
abnormal  deprivation  of  the  necessary  will-power 
to  control  any  ordinary  propensity.  Occassionally 


AND  THE  PIONEER  175 

you  find  a  temporary  cowboy  who  is  a  fugitive  from 
justice,  or  a  real  cowboy  of  very  small  intelligence,  who, 
when  under  the  influence  of  whisky,  seeks  to  run  the  town, 
shoot  out  the  lights,  or  defy  the  marshals,  but  even  he 
yields  all  deference  to  the  personal  rights  of  women.  As 
a  class,  the  cowboys  of  the  West  are  most  worthy  and 
law  abiding  citizens.  Yes,  I  am  very  glad  you  stayed 
all  night  and  I  should  have  lost  confidence  in  your  good 
judgment  had  you  attempted  to  face  such  a  storm." 

As  they  drove  the  team  to  the  barn  the  book-keeper 
said: 

"I  believe  that  old  gentleman  would  make  an  ideal 
father-in-law,  and  of  course  you  know  I  am  a  poor  for- 
lorn orphan." 

Before  the  snow  fell  the  next  winter  he  had,  indeed, 
ceased  to  be  an  orphan,  and  addressed  the  kind  old  gen- 
tleman by  the  respectful  appellation  of  "father." 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE  WILD  IMAGINATIONS  OF  A  NEW 
COUNTRY. 

The  developments  of  the  San  Juan  mines  were  suffi- 
cient to  cause  the  Great  Over-land  Stage  and  Star  Route 
mail  magnates,  managed  by  Messrs.  Barlow  and  Sander- 
son, to  establish  between  convenient  railroad  points  and 
the  principal  towns  in  the  San  Juan  a  most  splendid 
line  of  Concord  coaches,  and  an  industrious,  efficient,  and 
most  courteous  corps  of  agents,  messengers,  and  drivers, 
and  an  army  of  the  most  intelligent  and  superb 
coach  horses  that  was  ever  mobilized  on  this  globe.  Color, 
size,  form,  and  temperament  were  leading  requis- 
ites. Every  horse  had  to  stand  as  critical  an  examination 
by  an  expert  judge,  as  is  required  of  an  applicant  for 
Annapolis  or  West  Point  before  he  could  pass  muster, 
and  if  the  animal  developed  any  kind  of  weakness  or  un- 
fitness  after  purchase  he  was  discharged  from  his  role  and 
put  into  a  draft  team,  or  sold. 

The  coaches  were  run  on  as  close  time  and  with 
as  much  system  as  are  the  cars  on  the  Pennsylvania  rail- 
road, and  they  had  no  more  accidents  or  break  downs, 
and  passengers  were  treated  with  as  much  consideration 
by  employes.  Many  of  the  horses  lived  from  thirty 
to  thirty-five  years.  A  trained  veterinary  was  always  look- 
ing after  their  feet,  teeth,  and  general  health.  It  is  doubt- 
ful if  such  perfection  in  the  equipment  of  so  extensive 

a  line  ever  before  existed,  or  will  ever  again  exist,  any- 

(177) 


178  THE  PILGRIM 

where  on  earth.  The  whole  equipment  was  simply  ideal 
of  the  kind,  the  very  nonpareil  of  perfection. 

This  very  costly  equipment,  together  with  the  gen- 
eral ideas  of  great  profits  on  western  investments,  made 
the  fare  very  high — twenty  cents  per  mile.  It  was  the 
ambition  of  every  one  to  ride  on  these  elegant  stage 
coaches.  In  the  west  if  one  could  enjoy  the  best  the 
country  afforded,  this  gave'  complete  satisfaction.  Mr. 
Campbell  was  an  inveterate  lover  of  horses  and  could 
not  withstand  the  temptation  of  a  stage  ride  to  Canon 
City,  a  distance  of  eighty  miles,  and  return.  Going 
east  the  travel  was  light  and  he  succeeded  in  getting  an 
outside  seat  with  the  driver.  On  the  level  portions  of 
the  road  they  drove  fours,  and  on  the  hilly  portion  sixes, 
and  always  used  the  most  stylish  and  showy  teams  for 
the  drives  going  into  and  out  of  the  railroad  stations  and 
into  the  biggest  interior  towns.  They  made  from  eight 
to  ten  miles  an  hour  and  changed  horses  every  eleven 
miles.  The  trip  was  one  of  unbroken  charm.  Canon 
City  was  a  most  beautiful  town  in  a  warm,  fertile  and  ex- 
pansive valley  on  the  Arkansas  River  after  it  emerges 
from  the  famous  Royal  Gorge,  and  was  a  place  of  ideal 
homes,  schools,  churches,  etc. 

On  the  trip  back  their  load  was  quite  different.  There 
were  nine  persons  squeezed  inside  of  the  coach  and  eight  on 
the  top,  including  the  driver  and  the  messenger.  On  the  in- 
side they  had  the  young  attorney  of  the  stage  company.  He 
rode  upon  a  pass  and  was  what  was  deemed  well  trav- 
elled. About  one  trip  a  year  was  all  an  ordinary  pas- 
senger could  stand,  so  we  might  all  be  said  to  be  untrav- 
elled  except  the  breezy  attorney.  He  called  the  driver 
Tom,  the  messenger  Oscar,  the  agent  Ed,  and  the  stock- 
tender  Jimmie.  One  without  some  knowledge  of  human 


AND  THE  PIONEER  179 

nature  would  have  presumed  that  he  certainly  owned 
the  stage  line,  if  not  the  country  over  which  it  ran.  He 
replied  to  every  question  addressed  to  the  eight  and 
agreed  with  no  one  who  expressed  an  opinion  before  his 
was  announced. 

Toward  noon  Mr.  Campbell  pulled  from  his  pocket 
a  piece  of  buffalo  meat  and  some  crackers  and  began  his 
mid-day  lunch.  By  and  by  he  threw  a  small  piece  of 
cracker  out  of  the  coach  window.  The  stage  attorney 
straightened  himself  up  and  said,  "We'll  stand  some 
things,  but  we'll  hardly  stand  that."  Mr.  Campbell,  in 
confusion  inquired,  "What  harm  will  that  do  ?" 
"My  dear  sir,"  replied  the  attorney,  "it  will  allow  the 
mountain  lions  to  trail  us  up,  and  eat  up  the  whole  coach 
load  of  us  as  soon  as  the  shades  of  the  evening  shelter 
them."  Mr.  Campbell  meekly  folded  up  his  lunch  and 
returned  it  to  his  pocket.  He  had  blundered  into  tender- 
footism  so  often  that  a  mere  accusation  of  any  blunder 
was  sufficient  to  bring  a  plea  of  guilty  and  a  complete 
humiliation  to  him. 

The  coach  cheerfully  glided  along  Poncha  Creek 
until  the  steep  pass  was  reached.  "I  should  think  that 
the  coach  would  run  very  rapidly  coming  down  here," 
ventured  Mr.  Campbell.  "Yes,"  said  the  stage  attorney, 
"It  is  marvellous  how  it  spins  down  this  hill.  You 
wouldn't  think  it,  but  at  the  top  of  the  pass,  they  hitch 
a  Babcock  Fire  Extinguisher  to  the  coach  on  the  down- 
hill trip,  fearing  that  the  friction  of  the  wheels  on  the 
rocks  might  cause  a  conflagration  and  burn  up  the  whole 
outfit,  without  an  adequate  fire  apparatus  at  hand  to 
extinguish  the  flames." 

The  inquisitive  and  nervous  Mr.  Campbell  turned 
and  twisted  in  his  seat,  and  looked  out  of  the  window, 


180  THE  PILGRIM 

but  the  topography  of  the  country  presented  such  a  same- 
ness that  he  could  not  find  a  pretense  for  a  question. 
In  time  they  reached  the  top  of  the  hill,  which  was  very 
refreshing  to  all  of  the  passengers.  -They  were  in  the 
great  San  Luis  Valley,  with  its  vast  and  expansive  plains. 
But  a  short  distance  out  stood  prominently  in  bold  relief 
certain  small  mounds  near  some  hot  springs.  These  im- 
mediately challenged  Mr.  Campbell's  attention  and  fur- 
nished him  the  basis  or  another  inquiry : 

"What  causes  all  those  little  mounds  out  there  on 
the  open  plains?" 

The  stage  company's  attorney  answered :  "You  have 
seen  the  coral  reef  or  the  mountains  of  fish  and  whale 
bones  belched  up  by  the  sea  in  one  of  its  little  spells  of 
gastric  dyspepsia  and  deposited  as  the  uppermost  strata 
of  a  mighty  mountain  range,  which  finally  congealed  into 
mighty  cliffs  of  corallaceous  rock  or  into  the  great  beds 
of  calcium  carbonate  creamily  cresting  th$  surface  of 
so  many  of  our  southern  mountains.  Such  a  metamor- 
phose is  passing  strange,  but  not  more  strange  than  those 
mounds.  By  those  mounds  are  large  hot  springs  where 
thousands  of  cattle  come  to  drink  when  the  water  is 
frozen  elsewhere.  Those  mounds  are  composed  of  petri- 
fied bovines.  If  an  animal  dies  here  in  cold,  freezing 
weather,  and  disintegration  can  be  held  back  by  the  aid 
of  zero  temperature  for  ten  days,  the  elements  of  petri- 
faction get  such  a  possession  of  the  carcass  that  disintegra- 
tion never  takes  place  and  after  a  year  the  animal  can 
be  sawed  into  blocks  of  most  beautiful  variegated  marble, 
every  vein,  artery,  ligament,  intestine,  and  other  part 
retaining  its  color  and  form  the  same  as  when 
they  belonged  to  the  animal  kingdom.  Petrifaction  in 
the  vegetable  kingdom  is  almost  as  wonderful.  Five  years 


AND  THE   PIONEER  181 

ago  the  people  of  Colorado  City*  generally  built  hewn  log 
houses;  now  they  are  all  petrified  and  penciled  off  into 
brown  stone  fronts." 

Mr.  Campbell  stared  at  the  stage  company's  attor- 
ney hazily,  expressed  himself  by  an  audible  grunt,  shut 
his  eyes  in  bewilderment,  and  took  hold  of  his  head, 
indicating  that  his  temples  pained  him. 

The  weight  of  the  last  new  discovery  seemed  to  be- 
numb his  sensibilities  for  an  hour  or  so.  He  then  aroused 
himself  and  ventured: 

"I  have  heard  that  you  can  see  a  long  ways  out 
here. 

"Yes,  it  is  indeed  astounding  how  the  vision  will  stretch 
out  here.    How  far  do  you  suppose  it  is  to  those  foothills  ?" 

Mr.  Campbell  guessed  it  was  about  half  a  mile,  and 
he  missed  the  distance  very  little.  The  stage  company 
attorney,  with  great  earnestness,  replied: 

"Thirty-five  miles,  sir,  thirty-five  miles.  How  far 
do  you  suppose  it  is  to  that  little  forest  over  there  ?" 

Mr.  Campbell  answered  that  it  looked  like  about 
three  miles,  and  he  was  not  much  out  of  the  way.  The 
young  stage  company  attorney  answered: 

"Seventy-five  miles,  sir;  seventy-five  miles." 
Just  at  this  time  they  were  driving  up  to  where  a  ranch- 
man was  setting  some  fence  posts  eight  feet  apart.     The 
young  stage  company  attorney  asked : 

"My  young  friend,  how  far  do  yon  think  those  fence 
posts  are  apart?" 

Mr.  Campbell,  for  the  first  time,  received  a  vision 
that  he  was  being  imposed  upon;  his  whole  system  re- 
laxed, the  paralyzing  pressure  of  the  brain  was  removed, 
a  twinkle  came  into  his  eye,  and  a  ray  of  cheerfulness 


182  THE  PILGRIM 

played  over  his  brow,  as  lie  gleefully  smiled  and  an- 
swered : 

"I  should  guess  about  fifteen  miles." 

The  crowd  laughed,  rested,  laughed  again  and  again 
until  tired  out.  The  young  attorney  threw  his  hat  down 
in  the  coach  and  said: 

"Boys,  if  you  will  say  nothing  about  this,  I  shall 
buy  you  a  keg  of  beer  when  we  get  to  Saguache." 

Every  one  promised  till  the  beer  was.  bought  and 
drunk,  but  from  that  day  to  this  the  passengers  have 
been  telling  of  this  unique  and  hilarious  ending  of  what 
had  been  a  very  serious  affair  up  to  that  point,  at  least 
with  the  young  Pilgrim. 

When  the  coach  drove  up  to  the  hotel  in  Saguache 
Mr.  Wickham  appeared,  locked  arms  with  Mr.  Campbell, 
and  walked  off  up  the  street,  saying: 

"I  have  come  to  help  you  pack  up  and  shake  the 
dust  of  this  dear  little  city  from  your  feet,  and  to  assist 
in  putting  you  on  the  road  that  will  lead  you  to  an  early 
fame  and  a  certain  fortune." 

"Oh!"  replied  Mr.  Campbell,  "Do  you  expect  me 
to  assist  in  holding  up  a  stage  coach,  the  United  States 
mail,  to  break  into  a  bank,  or  go  into  the  gold  brick  busi- 
ness?" 

"O,  no ;  things  more  pleasant,  respectable,  and  profit- 
able than  these.  I  have  found  a  place  where  Dame  Nature 
can  be  held  up  and  made  to  yield  her  gold  and  silver  will- 
ingly and  without  crime,  as  a  benefit  to  all  mankind.  The 
pioneer  road  builder,  Enos  T.  TTotchkiss,  has  discovered 
at  the  foot  of  Lake  San  Christobal,  the  richest  mine  so 
far  discovered  in  the  great  San  Juan  and  a  body  of  the 
richest  tellurium  so  far  discovered  in  Colorado.  The  ore 
carries  silver  and  gold  in  a  ratio  of  seven  to  eight,  and 


AND  THE  PIONEER  183 

the  owner  has  just  received  returns  of  seventeen  dollars 
a  pound  for  a  shipment.  This  mine  is  called  the  Hotch- 
kiss.  They  have  also  discovered  lead  and  silver  mines 
called  the  Belle  of  the  West,  the  Ute,  the  Ule  and  the 
Big  Casino,  all  in  close  proximity  to  Lake  City,  which 
must  make  it  a  most  prosperous  and  thriving  town." 

"You  startle  me,"  responded  Mr.  Campbell.  "Your 
proposition  is  so  sudden,  so  unexpected,  that  I  really  ought 
to  have  time  to  consider  it,  but  as  I  have  followed  your 
advice  in  the  past  with  profit,  I  may  be  excused  for  judg- 
ing the  future  by  it,  and  fleeing  with  you,  for  better  or 
worse,  to  the  mountains  of  Tellurium." 

"Yes,"  answered  Mr.  Wickham,  "you  will  hardly  be 
so  fortunate  as  to  emblazon  your  path  to  fame  and  for- 
tune by  some  effulgent  piece  of  work  as  you  did  here,  but 
I  shall,  Homer-like,  sing  your  greatness  from  place  to 
place  till  your  great  merit  is  acknowledged ;  then  we  shall 
have  a  splendid  opportunity  to  go.  Mr.  Reynolds  has  a 
livery  outfit  he  is  going  to  move  up  tomorrow  and  offers 
us  seats  in  a  buckboard  for  half  price,  though  he  has 
picked  up  an  entire  stranger  for  a  driver  and  says  we 
shall  have  to  take  chances  on  him." 

Mr.  Campbell  bade  his  friends  good-bye,  packed  his 
books  and  office  furniture  and  put  them  into  one  of  the 
livery  wagons,  and  at  sunrise  next  morning  he  and  Mr. 
Wickham  mounted  the  buckboard  and  waved  Saguache  a 
regretful  farewell. 

The  driver  proved  to  be  a  quiet  man,  gentle  and 
courteous,  also  very  careful  and  kind  to  his  horses,  until 
after  they  reached  a  camp  where  a  saloon  outfit,  moving 
into  Lake,  was  stopping  for  the  night,  and  whisky  flowed 
as  freely  as  water.  The  driver  imbibed  freely  and  it  was 
with  much  persuasion  that  they  induced  him  to  leave,  but 


184  THE  PILGRIM 

the  world  would  not  call  him  drunk.  As  soon  as  they 
left  this  whisky  joint  he  became  very  loquacious.  He 
deprecated  the  fact  that  he  had  to  come  down  to  driving 
two  horses.  He  said  that  in  California  he  drove  sixteen 
for  the  Great  Over-land  Stage  Company,  and  was  such 
a  favorite  that  J.  L.  Sanderson,  one  of  the  owners,  always 
rode  with  him.  When  he  was  punishing  his  horses,  Mr. 
Wickham  entered  a  mild  protest. 

aOh !"  answered  the  driver,  "You  are  evidently  igno- 
rant of  the  curriculum  of  the  equestrian.  I  was  educated 
under  J.  L.  Sanderson  and  one  of  his  fixed  maxims  is, 
'When  a  horse  is  obstreperous  pat  him  on  the  back  with 
the  keen  lash  of  a  sharp  whip.7 ' 

Shortly  after  dark  he  lashed  his  team  into  a  furious 
run  through  a  toll  gate,  and  down  a  steep  hill.  Mr.  Wick- 
ham  said: 

"Driver,  you  may  care  little  for  your  own  life,  but  a 
very  small  amount  of  such  recklessness  will  do  me." 

The  man  answered: 

"Necessity  is  the  mother  of  many  dangerous  escapades ; 
that  off  horse  hasn't  got  a  thimble  full  of  sense,  and  a 
small  brained  horse  is  just  like  a  small  brained  man,  it 
is  just  as  hard  for  him  to  unlearn  a  thing  as  it  is  for  him 
to  learn  it.  With  great  difficulty  when  young,  that  horse 
was  taught  to  let  down  and  put  up  the  bars,  and  as  you 
may  have  noticed,  the  pole  of  the  toll-gate  lay  off  to  one 
side.  I  passed  here  last  week  with  him,  he  saw  that  pole 
and  made  a  surge  for  it,  broke  his  check  rein,  seized  the 
pole  with  his  teeth,  dragged  it  around,  and  was  determined 
to  put  it  up ;  no  punishment  would  cause  him  to  abandon 
his  determination.  I  got  out  and  assisted  him  to  put  it  up, 
then  he  trotted  off  with  a  clear  conscience.  You  needn't 
laugh ;  a  small-minded  horse  may  have  a  strong  conscience 


AND  THE  PIONEER  185 

the  same  as  a  weak-minded  person  may  be  very  conscien- 
tious. That  is  one  reason  against  mis-educating  such  per- 
sons or  horses.  It  is  just  as  foolish  to  educate  wrongfully 
a  small-brained  horse  as  it  is  to  educate  falsely  a  small- 
brained  man.  It  is  just  as  hard  to  beat  an  idea  out  of  a 
little  head  as  it  is  to  beat  an  idea  into  such  a  head,  and 
they  are  incapable  of  particularizing  or  discriminating  at 
all. 

"I  am  much  obliged,"  replied  Mr.  Wickham,  "your 
reasons  were  quite  sufficient  for  the  great  chances  we 
took." 

The  passengers  dozed  along  quietly  for  hours  and 
finally  were  awakened  by  the  sound  of  the  lashing  of  the 
horses,  the  squeaking  of  the  wheels  on  the  ice,  and  the 
slipping  of  the  horses  as  they  went  like  chariot  racers  over 
a  gorge  of  three  hundred  feet  of  spread  out  ice  in  the 
ford  of  Los  Pinos  Creek.  When  he  checked  his  team 
Mr.  Wickham  in  a  low  whisper  inquired : 

"Driver,  are  the  Indians  after  us?"  (We  were 
crossing  their  old  reservation.) 

"Hades,  no,"  answered  the  driver,  "there  is  no  more 
harm  in  these  Indians  than  there  is  in  a  tribe  of  Presby- 
terian deacons." 

"Then  what  did  you  mean  by  that  dangerous  run 
across  that  icy  gorge?" 

"Well,"  responded  the  driver,  "you  are  certainly 
from  near  the  Equator,  or  I  should  not  have  to  explain 
this  self-evident  fact  to  you.  If  you  had  been  awake  you 
would  have  seen  sags  here  and  there  in  that  wide  sheet 
of  ice  where  the  sun  has  partially  thawed  it  and  made  it 
weak.  If  a  wheel  had  been  permitted  to  settle  in  one  of 
these  sags  we  should  have  gone  through  the  ice  out  of  sight. 
By  driving  at  this  wild  gait  the  wheels  only  hit  in  the 


186  THE  PILGRIM 

high  places,  hence  saved  you  from  a  watery  grave.  When- 
ever you  see  a  danger,  charge  it,  that  is  my  motto." 

Mr.  Wickham  answered: 

"I  must  be  one  of  that  small-brained  class,  as  the 
more  you  teach  me  the  less  I  seem  to  know.  You  must 
be  right,  because  you  have  had  an  unbroken  run  of  suc- 
cess while  going  right  through  the  jaws  of  imminent 
danger." 

They  rocked  along  monotonously,  cat-napping,  until 
they  were  aroused  again  by  the  surging  and  leaping  of  the 
horses  in  a  mad  flight  down  the  long  hill  leading  to  the 
Cebolla  River,  also  a  stopping  place.  The  buckboard  was 
running  upon  the  horses  and  no  attention  was  paid  to  the 
brake. 

"Let  me  there,"  said  Mr.  Wickham,  "and  I'll  hold 
the  brake." 

The  driver  frowned  and  motioned  him  back.  At  the 
foot  of  the  hill  the  former  said: 

"I  see  you  do  not  understand  horses  at  all,  especially 
these  weak-minded  fellows.  They  would  not  allow  you 
to  hold  that  brake.  A  few  days  ago  in  going  down  a  hill 
like  this  I  pressed  the  brake  with  my  foot ;  they  got  mad 
and  snapped  their  check  reins,  seized  the  neck-yoke  with 
their  teeth,  and  fairly  set  the  ground  afire,  pitching  down 
that  hill.  You  must  treat  a  horse  according  to  his  educa- 
tion or  you  will  always  have  a  rebellion  on  your  hands." 

As  the  passengers  climbed  out  of  the  buckboard  for 
the  night,  they  felt  the  same  kind  of  thankfulness  for 
their  preservation  that  a  soldier  feels  after  passing  un- 
injured through  a  bloody  battle. 

The  next  morning  the  horses  and  the  driver  looked 
care-worn  and  haggard.  Nothing  unusual  occurred  on 


AND  THE  PIONEER  187 

the  drive  from  this  point.  Just  before  reaching  Lake  City, 
the  driver  said: 

"Gentlemen,  we  have  gotten  along  nicely,  and  I  want 
a  place  with  the  livery-stable  and  should  be  much  obliged 
if  you  would  speak  a  kind  word  for  me  or  give  me  a 
letter." 

Mr.  Wickham  answered : 

"If  you  ate  tobacco  leaves  saturated  with  the  deadly, 
poisonous  nicotine  as  a  cow  eats  hay,  or  if  you  smoked 
opium  as  the  nervous  Cherokee  Indian  smokes  cross  vine, 
I  might  recommend  you  because,  while  it  might  make  you 
stupid,  enervated,  and  dreamy,  your  sins  would  be  prob- 
ably only  of  omission ;  but  any  man  who  will  saturate  his 
blood  and  brain  with  that  devil's  water,  alcohol,  the  only 
morpheus  fluid  known  to  man,  that  sings  to  sleep  all  of 
his  moral  checks,  care,  precaution,  judgment,  and  the  in- 
stincts of  self-preservation  and  the  preservation  of  others 
in  his  keeping,  and  turns  loose  without  restraint  all  his 
lower  propensities,  and  augments  his  inclination  for 
viciousness,  heedlessness,  and  destructiveness,  should  not 
be  recommended  for  any  position  of  trust:  I  never  realized 
till  yesterday  what  a  difference  there  is  between  Philip 
sober,  and  Philip  just  a  little  drunk.  If  a  little  of  this 
vile  poison  will  make  you  criminally  reckless  and  negli- 
gent as  you  were  last  night,  what  would  you  be  should 
you  get  really  drunk?  TTo,  I  shall  feel  honor  bound  to 
warn  your  employer  against  trusting  you  in  the  future, 
not  as  a  punishment  to  you,  but  as  a  duty  I  owe  to  the 
traveling  public." 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

IN  A  TYPICAL  MINING  CAMP. 

Lake  City  was  nestled  among  beautiful  mountain 
streams,  lakes,  and  over-towering  hills,  which  made 
the  site  one  of  the  most  charming  and  picturesque  places 
in  the  Rocky  Mountains.  It  was  in  a  little  mountain  park 
more  than  8,000  feet  above  sea  level,  skirted  on  the  east 
by  the  Lake  Fork  of  the  Gunnison  River,  on  the  south 
by  Henson  Creek,  and  on  the  north  by  Beaverdam  Lake; 
three  miles  south  of  the  town  is  Lake  San  Christobal,  three 
miles  long,  one  mile  wide,  and  five  hundred  feet  deep, 
filled  with  fish.  The  latter  lake  gave  the  town  its  name. 

The  streets  were  so  level  and  smooth  that  they  would 
have  made  ideal  race  tracks.  Tents,  cabins,  and  camps  were 
on  every  side,  and  the  streets  were  alive  with  all  kinds 
of  people — American,  German,  Hebrew,  Irish,  Cornish, 
Swede,  Canadian,  French,  Italian,  English,  Negro,  Chi- 
nese, Japanese,  etc.,  and  all  tongues  were  spoken  there. 

They  stopped  at  a  hotel,  so-called.  Mr.  Wickham 
said: 

"Mr.  Campbell,  this  place  is  wholly  unlike  Saguache. 
This  is  a  typical  mining  town,  controlled  by  pilgrims; 
and  most  of  these  people  are  merely  sojourners  and  care 
for  nothing  and  nobody.  They  are  here  for  what  they 
can  gather  in,  so  you  must  be  on  your  P's  and  Q's  for 
two  weeks  and  take  in  the  whole  situation  before  you 
attempt  to  start  business.  It  will  be  a  regular  variety 
show  and  the  scenes  will  change  as  often  as  the  magician's 
leger-demain,  but  I  think  this  is  best  for  you." 

(189) 


190  THE  PILGRIM 

"All  right,"  said  Mr.  Campbell,  "I  am  in  your 
charge  for  two  weeks.  Do  what  you  will  with  me." 

When  evening  came,  the  blowing  of  horns,  the  hila- 
rious laughter,  the  occasional  ring  of  the  revolver,  echoed 
from  hill  to  hill,  finally  dying  away  in  some  acute  canon, 
with  a  faint  disappearing  sound,  bringing  to  memory 
the  chimes  of  mellow  church  bells  in  the  stillness  of  early 
morning.  The  Pilgrim  and  the  Pioneer  occupied  a  double- 
bed  in  a  room  under  a  transom,  and  another  bed  in  the 
room  was  occupied  by  two  of  the  leading  business  men 
of  the  town.  About  eleven  o'clock  a  regular  concert  be- 
gan— the  picking  of  banjos,  the  squeaking  of  the  violin, 
a  chorus  of  voices,  and  a  pounding  upon  the  door,  causing 
a  regular  bedlam.  The  business  men  knew  what  this 
meant  and  sprang  to  the  door,  appealing  to  the  visitors 
not  to  break  it  down,  but  to  allow  them  to  open  it.  By 
a  dextrous  move  the  door  was  opened  and  fifteen  or  twenty 
of  the  leading  citizens  of  the  town  walked  in  and  passed 
bottles  of  whisky  and  demanded  that  all  drink,  dress, 
and  join  the  crusade.  Mr.  Wickham  took  in  the  situation 
and  suggested  to  Mr.  Campbell  that  the  better  and  quicker 
way  out  of  this  was  to  join  them  and  appear  to  enjoy 
it  until  they  found  an  opportunity  to  escape.  They  then 
arose  and  Mr.  Wickham  soon  dressed  himself.  Mr.  Camp- 
bell got  one  foot  through  a  trouser  leg  and  was  hopping 
about  over  the  floor  with  the  other  foot  elevated,  trying  to 
force  an  entrance  into  the  other  trouser  leg.  His  sus- 
penders had  become  wound  around  this  and  closed  the 
opening  like  a  puckering  string.  Some  of  these  night 
marauders  concluded  that  the  young  man  was  feigning 
impotency,  gathered  the  unfilled  trouser  leg,  and  dragged 
him  into  the  presence  of  Mr.  Stevenson,  a  huge  young  at- 
torney, who  had  just  received  the  appointment  of  Justice 


AND  THE  PIONEER  191 

of  the  Peace,  and  asked  him  for  a  warrant  against  the 
confused  young  man  for  treason  to  the  crusade. 

Mr.  Wickham  saw  the  young  man's  perplexity  and 
parried  it  by  joshingly  appealing  to  the  young  Justice 
as  a  conservator  of  the  peace  to  protect  this  weakling  from 
the  insults  and  impositions  of  the  strong. 

The  young  Justice  grasped  one  after  another  of  the 
intruders  by  the  shoulders  and  flung  them  into  a  heap  in 
one  corner,  sat  down  upon  them,  and  said:  "By  the 
strong  arm  of  the  law  I  protect  this  Pilgrim." 

Every  one  present  was  forced  to  drink,  or  pretend 
to  drink,  from  the  bottles  on  tap,  and  all  were  ordered  to 
the  next  house. 

In  the  midst  of  the  confusion  the  Pioneer  and  the 
Pilgrim  slipped  away  from  the  mob.  The  latter 
was  trembling  like  an  aspen  leaf.  He  exclaimed:  "My 
— ,  Mr.  Wickham !  What  next  ?  Is  this  what  you  call 
pioneer  civilization?  If  so,  if  God  will  permit  me  to  es- 
cape, I  shall  never  again  be  caught  among  such  ferocious 
wild  beasts." 

Mr.  Wickham  replied :  "The  best  way  to  avoid  these 
evils  is  to  pretend  to  join  in  with  them;  and  don't  appear 
to  be  annoyed  or  bored,  and  they  will  soon  drop  you." 

They  retired  and  soon  were  asleep.  At  peep  of  day 
the  next  morning  they  were  startled  by  four  or  five  of 
the  crusaders  piling  through  the  transom  into  bed  with 
them.  They  began:  "Yes,  you  tenderfeet,  you  tried  to 
shake  us  last  night,  but  we  have  you.  Get  up  and  dress ; 
the  boys  are  at  the  bar  having  cocktails  made  for  you." 

The  Pilgrim  and  the  Pioneer  dressed  and  repaired  to 
the  bar  of  the  hotel  and  there  were  twelve  or  fifteen  mer- 
chants and  bankers  sitting  in  chairs  on  the  top  of  the  bar, 
while  five  or  six  were  behind  the  bar  assisting  the  bar- 


192  THE  PILGRIM 

tender  in  mixing  the  cocktails.  After  all  were  served 
they  paid  the  bill,  got  a  cocktail  for  old  Aunt  Martha,  a 
three  hundred  pound  colored  cook,  and  told  her  they 
wanted  an  early  breakfast. 

The  old  woman  laughed,  slapped  the  donors  on  the 
shoulders,  and  told  them  to  run  up  to  the  attic  and  call 
the  waitress  -and  they  should  have  their  breakfast  imme- 
diately. 

Two  of  the  leaders  went  to  the  girl's  room,  called  her, 
and  told  her  if  she  would  get  down  in  ten  minutes  and 
wait  on  them,  there  would  be  a  dollar  in  it  for  her.  In 
a  few  moments  the  girl  was  down,  her  face  glowing 
with  smiles.  Mr.  Allan  Crandall,  the  leader,  said :  "She 
is  a  nice  girl  and  ought  to  have  a  solid  fellow/'  and  tried 
to  induce  one  after  another  to  lay  claim  to  her,  but 
each  made  some  plausible  excuse.  Mr.  Crandall 
was  not  to  be  outdone.  He  went  to  the  bar  room,  secured  a 
screwdriver,  walked  across  the  street  to  a  handsomely 
painted  metallic  cigar  sign,  with  a  tempting  havana  in 
his  mouth,  and  unscrewing  it  from  the  sidewalk,  called 
two  assistants,  and  ordered  them  to  carry  the  metallic 
Indian  to  the  smiling  waitress's  room  and  to  tuck  him 
snugly  away  in  her  bed,  as  her  "solid  fellow.'7 

While  Mr.  Wickham  was  the  best  type  of  the  Pioneer, 
the  leaders  got  the  impression  from  his  slipping  the  crowd 
the  night  before,  and  from  his  shy,  sedate  demeanor,  that 
he  was  an  unsophisticated  tenderfoot  and  needed  disciplin- 
ing. They  gave  their  impressions  to  a  bronzed-faced, 
semi-rapid  maid  of  about  thirty-five  and  persuaded  her 
to  seat  herself  beside  him  at  breakfast  to  try  his  sus- 
ceptibility to  feminine  charms.  They  took  the  head- waiter 
into  the  secret  th^it  he  might  seat  them  properly  at  the 
table. 


AND  THE  PIONEER  193 

t 

£ 

When  Mr.  Wickbam  came  in,  the  head-waiter  took 
him  to  a  corner  table  near  the  screen  which  cut  off  the 
view  of  the  kitchen,  and  as  Mr.  Campbell  was  about  to  be 
seated,  the  head-waiter  tapped  him  on  the  shoulder,  say- 
ing, "I  am  sorry,  but  that  seat  is  taken,"  and  ushered  in  the 
short-haired  woman,  introduced  her,  and  seated  her  with 
Mr.  Wickham ;  and  the  leaders  of  the  crusade,  the  waiters, 
and  Aunt  Martha,  hung  about  the  screen  to  see  the  tender- 
foot taken  in  by  the  short-haired  woman.  She  guyed  him 
and  sneered  at  the  effete  East,  and  he  played  the  greeny 
and  tenderfoot  to  perfection.  She  flattered  him,  coyly  look- 
ed askance  at  him,  chucked  him  under  the  chin,  and  talked 
baby  talk  to  him,  and  he  played  the  game  admirably.  The 
crowd  behind  the  screen  were  overjoyed,  and  were  ready  to 
be  jewel  the  short-haired  damsel  for  the  complete  sway 
she  had  so  soon  obtained  over  the  tenderfoot. 

After  a  long  sitting  Mr.  Wickham  began  to  rise  to 
go,  but  the  brazen  woman,  in  a  pettish  attitude,  puckered 
her  mouth,  caught  him  by  the  sleeve,  and  said:  "Now, 
my  dear  Mr.-  Wickham,  you  are  not  going  to  leave  me 
unprotected  here  among  all  of  these  hateful,  rough  men, 
are  you  ?" 

"I  must,  I  must!"  _said'he.  "This  is  very  pleasant, 
but  the  best  of  friends  must  part,  you  know." 

The  woman  turned  her  parted  lips  up  toward  him  and 
in  an  imploring,  babyish  tone,  said :  "Who  is  going  to  love 
me  when  you  are  gone  ?" 

Mr.  Wickham  hesitated  a  moment,  raised  himself 
to  his  natural  grandeur,  and  gently  said:  "Jesus  is  go- 
ing to  love  you  when  I  am  gone,  if  you  are  good." 

The  spontaneous  outburst  from  behind  the  screen 
was  too  quick  for  the  disappointed  woman  to  reply,  if  she 
could  have  said  anything.  Old  Aunt  Martha's  voice  rang 


194  THE  PILGRIM 

out:  " Jesus  is  guine  to  lobe  you.  Well  if  dat  ain't  the 
doggonest  smartest  tenderfoot  dat  eber  come  to  dis  here 
hotel,  den  I'll  gim  you  my  head  for  a  football.  Men  ain't 
what  dey  used  to  was  nohow." 

The  leaders  of  the  crusade  jumped  to  Mr.  Wickham, 
took  him  upon  their  shoulders  to  the  bar  and  offered  him 
anything  in  the  house,  while  the  short-haired  woman  slunk 
away  upstairs. 

From  this  moment  the  Pioneer  was  a  hero  with 
"the  old-timers."  In  the  midst  of  the  hub-bub  the  old 
German  cigar-maker  was  seen  walking  up  and  down  in 
front  of  his  shop  across  the  street,  shaking  his  fist  at  the 
place  where  his  sign  used  to  be  saying:  The  man  vat 

stoled  away  mine  Indian,  I  kill  mit  him. ." 

The  waitress,  for  some  purpose,  went  to  her  room  during 
the  excitement,  and  immediately  began  to  scream  for 
the  proprietor  to  come  quick — a  man  was  in  her  bed.  The 
proprietor  grabbed  a  Winchester,  the  clerk  a  baseball  bat, 
and  the  bar-tender  a  revolver,  and  all  burst  into  the 
waitress's  room,  and  began  to  pound  the  ringing  metallic 
Indian  with  their  weapons.  They  soon  saw  the  joke,  and 
feeling  the  humiliation,  picked  up  the  cigar  sign,  and 
pushed  it  through  a  skylight  to  the  top  of  the  house,  saying 
nothing. 

The  Pilgrim, was  extremely  shy  and  nervous.  He 
inquired :  "Mr.  Wickham,  is  this  the  usual  life  out  here  ? 
If  so,  I  should  think  ten  years  a  ripe  old  age,  if  anyone 
could  even  live  that  long.  Tell  me,  what  has  converted 
these  people  into  a  drove  of  common  wild  beasts  2" 

"My  dear  young  friend,"  replied  the  Pioneer, 
"there  is  a  most  valuable  lesson  bound  up  in  this  unbroken 
pandemonium.  You  will  observe  that  there  are  fifty  men 
here  to  every  woman.  If  a  modest,  neatly  dressed  woman 


AND  THE  PIONEER  195 

should  walk  up  Silver  Street,  five  hundred  men  would 
come  out  and  quietly  and  silently  admire  her,  as  long  as 
she  was  in  view.  This  chaotic  civilization  is  the  standard 
that  men  fix  for  themselves  when  alone.  The  superiority 
of  older  societies  is  a  tribute  to  womanhood.  When  man 
and  woman  are  associated,  man  greatly  elevates  the  stand- 
ard of  civility  and  morality  for  both.  Oh!  it  is  here 
that  man  can  adequately  estimate  the  magnificent  attrib- 
utes of  the  Caucasian  woman.  What  superb  mothers  they 
make !  I  can  hardly  conceive  that  men  of  this  age  and  sons 
of  exemplary  dames  can  become  even  temporarily  so  degen- 
erate. The  result  of  lack  of  woman's  influence  here  is 
an  ocular  demonstration  of  her  great  worth.  It  is  only 
sires  that  have  been  deprived  of  the  beneficent  influ- 
ence of  refined  womanhood  in  the  maternity  of  their 
children,  who  can  adequately  measure  their  real  worth. 
Here  you  may  actually  observe  the  reason  God  gave  for 
creating  woman.  He  said  truly  that  it  was  not  well  that 
man  should  be  alone.  Again  this  is  a  demonstration  of 
the  innate  weakness  of  men.  They  are  moral  cowards. 
Two-thirds  of  this  motley  crew  would  have  preferred  bet- 
ter things.  The  saloons  and  dance  halls  wield  a  potent 
influence  here.  The  proprietors  of  these  dens  continu- 
ally harp  upon  the  generous  qualities  of  the  individuals 
who  visit  their  places  and  treat  the  crowds,  and  these  dive- 
keepers  are  constantly  advising  their  patrons  to  buy  at 
their  customers'  stores.  To  keep  the  finger  of  scorn  on 
the  part  of  these  interested  venders  from  being  pointed  at 
them,  and  to  get  the  influence  of  the  appellations,  'one  of 
the  boys/  'a  good  fellow  who  spends  his  money  freely,' 
'the  man  to  trade  with/  etc.,  they  pollute  themselves  in 
these  nightly  debauches." 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE  JUDGE. 

The  Pilgrim  and  the  Pioneer  stepped  into  a  bar-room 
where  all  kinds  of  games  were  in  progress  and  many  men 
risking  their  jingling  cash  on  a  favorite  card  or  number. 
As  they  got  well  into  the  door  a  man  approached  Mr. 
Campbell,  held  up  his  hand  with  a  large  parlor  match 
between  his  fingers,  and  said: 

"Mister,  I  have  a  match,  have  you  a  cigar?" 
Mr.   Campbell  handed  him  a  cigar. 
He  hurried  along  to  Mr.  Wickham,  who  was  near  the 
bar  and,  with  a  smile,  exclaimed : 

"Hello,  stranger,  what  kind  of  a  ship  do  you  sail 
on?" 

"A  double-decker,  sir." 

The  young  man  took  t  him  by  the  lapel  of  the  coat 
and,  facing  him  up  to  the  bar,  said : 

"Cast  anchor,  sir."    „ 

Mr.  Wickham  smiled  and  told  the  bar-tender  to  give 
him  a  drink,  which  he  did ;  then  the  young  fellow  moved 
out  at  the  door,  soliloquizing  as  he  went : 

"One  cigar  and  one  drink  without  paying  a  cent, 
and  it  isn't  a  very  good  day  for  suckers  either." 

The  Judge,  a  square,  well  formed,  middle-aged  man, 
with  a  large  mustache  and  Arkansas  chin  whiskers, 
was  taking  a  drink.  He  chuckled  at  the  amusing  incident, 
and  introduced  himself  as  the  Judge.  Mr.  Wickham  in 
turn  introduced  Mr.  Campbell  as  a  young  limb  of  the 

law.     The  Judge  insisted  that  they  must  visit  his  court. 

(197) 


198  THE  PILGRIM 

He  told  them  they  had  an  excellent  bar  and  it  was  making 
the  term  very  interesting.  The  visitors  promised,  the 
Judge  wiped  his  mouth  and  hurried  off  to  his  judicial 
ermine. 

As  the  new-comers  walked  up  the  street  they  met  a 
brisk,  loquacious  individual,  who  seemed  to  be  on  the  en- 
tertainment committee.  He  inquired: 

"Boys,  do  you  want  to  have  a  bushel  of  fun  without 
its  costing  you  a  cent  ?" 

"Yes,"  answered  the  Pioneer,  "the  cheaper  the 
better,  if  the  quality  is  good." 

"Well,  sir,"  replied  the  entertainer,  "I  have  a  law- 
yer friend  here  who  has  more  imagination  than  John  Bun- 
yan,  more  pathos  than  John  Calvin,  more  eloquence  than 
Wendell  Phillips,  and  more  fun  in  him  than  there  is  in 
Tom  Corwin.  The  opposition's  counsel  is  a  typical  product 
of  the  pawpaw  thickets  of  Missouri,  talks  the  Missouri 
dialect,  has  the  general  attitudes  of  a  kangaroo,  seems  to 
be  annoyed  with  the  mange,  and  has  never  been  able  to 
find  a  comfortable  place  in  which  to  locate  his  hands. 
Both  of  the  attorneys  are  strangers  here,  but  my  friend 
is  a  'Joe  Dandy/  and  I  told  him  what  kind  of  a  looking 
fellow  his  opponent  was,  and  I  said :  'Look,  a-here,  that  is 
a  little  case  of  no  importance,  but  I'll  tell  you  how  you 
can  make  a  big  fee  out  of  it,  not  in  money,  but  in 
reputation.  You  just  get  a  big  crowd  there  and  let  your 
powers  loose  and  let  them  compare  your  great  abilities 
with  your  opponent's  poor  abilities  and  great  awkward- 
ness, and  inside  of  a  week  you  will  have  to  drive  clients 
away  from  your  office.'  He  said:  'You  furnish  the 
crowd  and  every  time  the  limb  of  the  pawpaw  district 
presents  a  point,  I'll  buff  it  in  so  many  directions  that 
it'll  make  him  hurry  to  agree  with  me  to  save  himself 


AND  THE  PIONEER  199 

from  being  utterly  belittled.'  Now,  I  want  to  furnish 
the  crowd  for  a  first-class  free  entertainment." 

Said  the  Pioneer:  "Mr.  Campbell,  we  might  go 
over.  This  is  some  parrot-tongued,  police-court  lawyer 
who  talks  like  a  magpie  and  thinks  like  an  oyster,  and 
he  will  throw  his  whole  resources  into  the  show  windows. 
It  might  pay  you  to  go  over  and  study  the  manner  of 
man  you  will  probably  have  to  measure  swords  with  in 
the  legal  arena,  though  I  think  I  can  write  his  biography 
without  seeing  him." 

"Yes,"  said  Mr.  Campbell,  "I  should  like  to  go." 
They  went  over,  found  the  house  crowded,  and  the  Judge 
viewing  it  with 'astonishment. 

The  question  involved  seemed  to  be  the  location  of 
the  northeast  corner  of  a  mining  claim.  The  stake  at 
this  point  had  been  moved.  The  plaintiff  swore  to  one 
place.  The  defendant  swore  to  a  different  place.  The 
defendant's  attorney  then  asked  the  defendant  if  he  could 
recall  any  incident  that  enabled  him  to  remember  this 
corner  definitely.  He  answered  yes,  that  a  large  jack- 
rabbit  used  to  delight  in  resting  his  back  against  that 
stake,  and  that  he  had  gone  there  time  and  again  to  kill 
it  and  in  trying  to  take  advantage  of  that  rabbit  he  got 
a  lasting  impression  of  the  very  spot.  The  attorney  for 
the  plaintiff  jumped  to  his  feet  and  said  that  facts  brought 
out  of  the  defendant's  own  witness  in  that  way  were 
"illegitimate"  evidence. 

This  was  the  great  lawyer's  opportunity.  He 
stroked  his  whiskers, .  looked  at  the  ceiling,  chuckling 
vigorously,  then  arose  to  his  feet  and  said: 

"Your  honor,  please,  I  have  enjoyed  an  active  prac- 
tice at  the  bar  for  twenty  years,  but  I  have  never  heard 
of  such  evidence  as  the  gentleman  names,  before.  I  have 


200  THE  PILGRIM 

often  read  of  'incompetent'  evidence  and  'illegitimate' 
children  but  never  until  now  have  I  heard  of  'illegitimate' 
evidence  and  'incompetent'  children,  and  this  counsel  is 
lead  to  believe  that  such  is  indigenous  to  the  pawpaw 
thickets  of  Missouri,  and  not  a  part  of  the  statute  law  of 
this  state,  and  certainly  no  part  of  the  common  law."  The 
crowd  laughed,  the  court  scolded,  and  the  plaintiff's  coun- 
sel blushed,  and  scratched  vigorously  first  the  rear  of  one 
leg,  then  the  side  of  the  other. 

The  Judge  withheld  his  decision  and  ordered  the 
plaintiff's  counsel  to  argue  the  case  on  the  merits.  He 
hammered  the  table,  talked  about  the  ejectment  law,  and 
tried  to  explain  away  some  apparently  fatal  admission 
that  the  plaintiff  had  made  in  a  verified  replication,  and 
finally  closed,  scratched  the  rear  of  his  legs  vigorously, 
and  sat  down. 

The  hero  of  the  occasion  arose  and  every  one  leaned 
forward  with  an  intent  smile  as  all  expected  the  show  to 
begin. 

"Your  honor,  please,  counsel  are  employed  for  use- 
ful rather  than  for  ornamental  purposes." 

The  crowd  construed  this  into  a  sarcastic  thrust  at 
the  personal  appearance  of  the  plaintiff's  attorney,  and 
broke  into  a  hilarious  laughter.  The  Judge  pounded  his 
desk,  and  lectured  the  crowd  on  its  bad  manners.  The 
counsel  proceeded: 

"Your  honor,  please,  does  the  plaintiff's  swearing 
that  there  was  a  misunderstanding  between  him  and  his 
counsel  make  it  so  ?  He  might  swear  his  counsel  was  the 
Angel  Gabriel.  Would  his  swearing  that  it  is  so,  make 
it  so  ?" 

"Yes,  it  might,"  interposed  the  plaintiff's  counsel. 


AND   THE  PIONEER  201 

The  defendant's  counsel,  with  great  vehemence, 
cried  out: 

"Yes,  your  honor,  if  our  brother  from  the  pawpaw 
thickets  could  only  get  wings  to  match  his  tail  feathers, 
he  might  make  a  bird  of  paradise !" 

The  crowd  laughed  and  stamped  the  floor.  The 
Judge  arose  and  rebuked  them  severely,  and  threatened  to 
clear  the  house  if  it  was  repeated. 

The  plaintiff's  counsel  jumped  to  his  feet  and  said: 

"Your  honor,  I  should  be  glad  if  you  would  confine 
the  defendant's  counsel  to  a  .discussion,  of  the  facts  and 
the  ejectment  law  'applicable  to  this  case.  No  lawyer 
can  follow  the  worming  in  and  worming  out  arguments  of 
this  seemingly  raving  maniac."  He  scratched  the  back 
part  of  his  legs,  then  sat  down  and,  in  his  embarrassment, 
platted  them  like  an  ornamental  willow. 

Before  the  court  could  speak,  the  defendant's  coun- 
sel jumped  to  his  feet  and  with  great  rapidity  and  fervor, 
replied : 

"Yes,  and  if  this  counsel  adjudges  aright  from  the 
angular  action  of  the  plaintiff's  counsel,  his  progenitors 
must  have  been  using  angle  worms,  instead  of  Japanese  tea, 
when  the  gentleman  was  sired." 

The  Judge  had  to  laugh  with  the  spectators,  and  when 
the  explosion  was  over  begged  of  them  to  be  decorous,  and 
insisted  that  the  defendant's  attorney  should  get  down 
at  once  to  the  law  and  facts  of  the  case,  or  take  his  seat. 

The  counsel  proceeded,  telling  stories,  quoting 
poetry,  comparing  plaintiff's  attorney  to  all  kinds  of  ani- 
mals, for  half  an  hour,  and  had  not  even  referred  to  the 
case. 

The  Judge  lost  his  patience  and  inquired: 

"Sir,  are  you  not  about  ready  to  close  your  argu- 


202  THE  PILGRIM 

ment  ?    It  is  getting  very  late,  and  it  seems  that  you  have 
covered  everything  in  the  case." 

The  sarcastic  reference  to  his  "covering  everything 
in  the  case"  before  he  had  reached  the  case  at  all,  stung 
the  counsel  and,  as  quick  as  a  flash,  he  answered : 

"Yes,  your  honor,  I,  too,  believe  that  I  have  covered 
everything  in  the  case,  except  that  jack-rabbit,  and  I  am 
now  ready  to  pay  my  respects  to  it." 

The  crowd  broke  into  a  general  pandemonium,  the 
Judge  ordered  the  court  adjourned,  and  here  ended  as 
comical  a  farce  as  will  ever  be  presented  on  the  Lake  Fork 
of  the  Gunnison  River. 

The  Judge    kindly  escorted  the  visitors  to  the  hotel. 
As  they  approached  the  platform  some  fifteen  or  twenty 
leading  business  and  professional  men  lined  up  in  front 
of  the  Judge  and  informed  him  that  they  had  shut  up  their 
shops   and  come  over  to  give  him  a  mid-day  serenade. 
The  Judge  took  a  position  in  front  and  led  the  singing, 
beating  time  with  his  cane.     With  great  zest  they  sang: 
"The  old  sow,  she  went  a-rootling,  a-rootling, 
The  old  sow,  she  went  a-rootling,  along  the  road,  high  'o." 

At  the  end  of  the  singing  the  Judge  invited  all  of 
the  serenaders  to  the  bar  and  they  drank  round  after 
round.  After  dinner  Mr.  Wickham  and  Mr.  Campbell 
returned  to  the  court  with  the  Judge. 

The  love  of  order  is  an  innate  attribute  in  our  make- 
up. No  lodge,  society,  or  other  educational  or  delibera- 
tive institution  can  long  thrive  without  a  liberal  recog- 
nition of  decorum.  Institutions  will  crumble  more  often 
by  reason  of  too  much,  than  by  reason  of  too  little,  de- 
mocracy. "Too  much  democracy"  is  not  an  attribute  of 
the  pioneer,  but  an  attribute  of  those  coming  after  him, 


AND  THE  PIONEER  203 

and  desiring  to  "outpioneer  the  pioneer."  They  often 
spoil  the  dish  by  trying  to  be  "too  democratic." 

The  district  court  was  organized  in  Lake  City,  and 
there,  as  elsewhere,  the  people  had  the  utmost  faith  in 
its  integrity,  but  the  people  were  very  democratic;  they 
called  the  judges,  "Tom,"  "John,"  etc.,  off  the  bench,  but 
were  usually  very  circumspect  and  deferential  while  the 
Judge  was  wearing  his  judicial  ermine,  though  these  un- 
usual familiarities  sometimes  caused  the  laity  to  overstep 
the  bonds  of  propriety.  The'  District  Judge  was  fond 
of  getting  out  with  the  boys  at  night  and  pretending  that 
he  was  very  democratic,  and  sometimes  playing  a  few 
games  of  draw,  and  when  lushed  up  a  little  he  became 
inspired  with  a  desire  to  sing.  While  in  court  he  usually 
sat  with  his  feet  elevated  on  a  table,  smoking  incessantly, 
with  everyone  talking  and  joking  as  though  no  court  was 
in  session.  The  murder  trial  of  John  York  for  killing 
Bnrkett  was  taken  up  and  hotly  contested  for  days. 
The  seriousness  of  this  case  made  it  easy  to  retain  good 
order.  The  defendant  was  acquitted. 

The  next  case  was  that  of  a  Frenchman  charged  with 
malicious  mischief  in  killing  a  Durham  bull.  The  evi- 
dence showed  that  he  had  cleared  a  tract  of  land,  had 
spent  several  hundred  dollars  importing  seed  from  France ; 
that  it  was  growing  nicely;  that  his  neighbor's  Durham 
bull  broke  in  and  was  destroying  his  garden.  He  stepped 
up  close  to  the  bull,  shot  him  in  the  face,  and  the  bull  drop- 
ped dead  in  his  tracks.  The  case  was  submitted  to  the  jury. 
It  was  out  a  few  moments,  then  returned  a  verdict  of 
guilty,  as  charged. 

The  Judge  called  the  defendant  to  the  bar  of  justice 
and  asked  him  if  he  had  anything  to  say  why  the  judg- 
ment of  the  court  should  not  be  passed  upon  him.  The 


204  THE  PILGRIM 

Frenchman  arose  and,  in  a  very  excited  manner,  told 
how  he  had  worked,  and  how  much  he  had  spent  on  that 
garden,  and  how  his  neighbor  persisted  in  allowing  his 
bull  to  trespass  upon  him,  and  how  aggravating  it  was, 
and  said  that  he,  like  the  defendant  that  had  just  been 
acquitted  for  murder,  shot  in  self-defense,  and  in  defense 
of  his  experimental  garden  which  was  his  pride  and  his 
life.  He  said  he  was  surprised  at  the  verdict;  that  he 
was  astonished  to  learn  that  it  was  a  greater  crime  under 
the  laws  of  the  great  western  republic  to  commit  bullicide 
than  it  was  to  commit  homicide.  The  crowd  shouted  and 
cheered  lustily,  and  the  Frenchman  seemecl  more  as- 
tonished. 

The  next  case  was  an  important  suit  of  Mills  vs. 
Wilson  for  possession  of  valuable  grounds.  An  able  law- 
yer from  Illinois,  and  a  very  able  lawyer  and  politician 
late  from  Kansas  represented  the  plaintiff,  and  the  "en- 
tertainment friend's  idol"  represented  the  defendant;  he 
was  also  from  Kansas.  This  divided  the  admirers  from 
Kansas  between  the  two  legal  lights  from  that  state.  A 
big  crowd  was  on  hand.  The  Judge  looked  haggard  and 
worn.  The  gentleman  lately  from  Kansas  representing 
the  plaintiff,  with  a  cartload  of  books  before  him,  ad- 
dressed the  drowsy  looking  Judge  on  the  insufficiency  of 
the  defendant's  answer. 

When  the  defendant's  attorney  arose  to  reply  he 
took  a  position  between  the  two  attorneys  for  the  plaintiff. 
The  loquacious,  poetical,  and  flowery  advocate  talked  about 
almost  everything  but  the  case.  He  said  he  was  Attorney 
General  of  Kansas  while  the  senior  counsel  was  speaker 
•of  the  lower  house  of  the  legislature  of  the  state.  He  said 
the  plaintiff's  senior  counsel  was  elected  speaker  to  keep 
him  off  the  floor,  as  he  was  given  to  much  speech,  but 


AND  THE  PIONEER  205 

through  his  power  as  speaker  he  kept  off  all  bills  he  was 
opposed  to  until  within  ten  days  of  the  close  of  the  ses- 
sion, then  called  another  to  the  chair  and  talked  till  the 
session  expired  by  constitutional  limitation,  with  his 
speech  unfinished.  The  speaker  suggested  that  this  was 
probably  a  continuation  of  that  famous  effort,  as  it  seemed 
to  have  no  application  to  the  case  in  hand.  He  then  de- 
liberately turned,  and  pointing  to  the  attorney  for  the 
plaintiff  sitting  on  his  right,  then  as  deliberately  to  the 
one  on  his  left,  he  said : 

"But  these  Siamese  twins  claim — " 

"Yes,  your  honor/'  interrupted  the  senior  attorney 
for  the  plaintiff,  "let  him  designate  us  as  the  Siamese 
twins,  there  is  only  one  set  of  'gutterials7  between  us," 
pointing  his  finger  directly  at  the  speaker. 

The  Judge,  lawyers,  and  audience  laughed  hysteri- 
cally. The  speaker  stammered,  halted,  tried  again,  gave 
up,  uttered  an  embarrassed  chuckle,  and  bowed  to  the 
new  star  from  the  Sunflower  state.  The  new  hero  Was 
enthroned  in  the  hearts  of  the  large  Kansas  constituency, 
and  the  old  stand-by-  was  allowed  to  die  in  neglect  like 
a  vanquished  gladiator.  Everyone  broke  into  pandemo- 
nium, and  jollied  one  another,  and  the  Judge,  who  was 
now  becoming  serious  from  a  retrospect  of  the  week's 
events,  scratching  his  head,  soliloquized : 

"These  proceedings  are  very  funny,  but  are  they  not 
too  democratic  and  indecorous  to  be  effective  or  re- 
spectable?" 

An  important  mining  case  was  called,  and  while  the 
Judge  was  in  a  brown  study  about  the  hilarious  proceed- 
ings of  the  past  week,  twelve  of  the  leading  business  men 
of  the  town  marched  solemnly  into  the  court  room  and 


206  THE  PILGRIM 

lining  up  in  front  of  the  judge,  sang  at  the  top  of  their 

voices  the  first  verse  of  that  rich  old  melody : 

"Here's  to  the  health  of  General  Jackson  j  God  bless  the 

the  bold  hero." 

The  Judge  hammered  his  table,  and  cried  aloud: 
"Stop,  stop,  stop  that I" 

The  sheriff  jumped  to  the  rescue  and,  when  they 
were  silenced,  the  Judge  inquired: 

"Gentlemen,  what  can  you  mean  by  this  unseemly 
conduct  in  this  court?     Can  it  be  possible  that  a  dozen  of 
the  best  citizens  of  this  town  are  crazy  at  the  same  time  ?" 
"    The  leader,  Major  Bentley,  answered: 

"No,  it  is  out  of  our  profound  respect  for  this  court 
that  we  are  here.  You  taught  us  to  sing  this  beautiful 
song  last  night,  and  we  are  here  to  show  you  how  much 
we  have  improved  since  you  left  us  at  five  o'clock  this 
morning." 

The  Judge  whispered  to  the  sheriff,  "Take  them  out, 
and  place  a  guard  at  the  door  to  prevent  their  return." 

As  they  marched  away  the  Judge  sololiquized  again : 
"Yes,  truly,  familiarity  does  breed  contempt;  yes,  there 
is  such  a  thing  as  too  much  democracy." 

This  exciting  day  so  revived  the  drooping  spirits  of 
the  Pioneer  that  he  felt  really  attached  to  the  Judge, 
grotesque  as  his  court  proceedings  were. 

It  was  in  this  court  house  that  Edward  O'Kelly 
was  tried  for  the  murder  of  Bob  Ford. 

In  Creede,  near  the  head  waters  of  the  Rio  Grande 
Eiver  in  the  very  heart  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  Bob 
Ford,  the  slayer  of  Jesse  James,  sought  safety  for  body 
and  composure  of  conscience,  in  vain.  He  here  learned 
that  this  earth  is  too  small  a  hiding  place  from  a  guilty 
conscience.  He  was  always  shy,  nervous,  and  expectant. 


AND   THE  PIONEER  207 

He  never  would  sit  in  a  game  of  cards  unless  he  could 
get  his  back  to  the  wall  so  no  one  might  get  behind  him. 
He  was  ever  expecting  the  Fates  to  demand  his  life  in 
return  for  the  treacherous  taking  and  selling  of  the  life 
of  his  confidential  associate  in  crime.  On  a  spree  one 
night  he  shot  out  the  street  lights.  On  getting  sober  he 
apologized  in  the  public  press  and  faithfully  promised 
good  behavior  in  the  future.  He  earnestly  tried  to  throw 
off  his  burden,  but  no  inaccessible  retreat,  no  mountain 
fastness,  no  rough  and  tumble  excitement,  could  bring  ease 
of  conscience  or  peace  of  mind.  He  had  hourly  premoni- 
tions that  his  Missouri  pardon,  his  secluded  wildness, 
could  not  save  him  here  on  earth  from  an  inexorable, 
stern,  retributive  justice.  Ultimately  Edward  O'Kelly  ap- 
peared on  the  scene  with  a  double-barrelled  shot  gun.  As 
Bob  Ford  nervously  walked  from  a  dancing  platform  to 
a  bedroom,  O'Kelly  exclaimed,  "Hello,  Bob,"  and 
as  Ford  turned  his  head  quickly,  he  received  a  charge  of 
buckshot  in  the  neck  and  fell  a  corpse.  ~No  one,  not  even 
O'Kelly,  has  been  able  to  give  any  pertinent  reason  for  the 
killing,  unless  perchance  he  expected  to  be  extolled  and 
celebrated  for  the  removal  of  such  a  character.  But  lo! 
the  public  said  O'Kelly  was  probably  the  worse  of  the  two 
and  must  be  removed  also.  The  community  prosecuted 
him  to  a  conviction  and  sentence  for  life  in  the  Colorado 
penitentiary.  The  Fates  finally  get  their  own,  no  matter 
how  we  may  try  to  avoid  them. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE  COLORED  DELEGATE. 

During  the  forenoon  of  Saturday,  there  was  an  un- 
der-current of  excitement  over  a  delegate  convention  to  be 
held  at  the  court  house  in  Lake  City  at  3  P.  M.,  to  nomi- 
nate a  candidate  for  the  legislature,  who,  if  successful, 
would  have  a  vote  for  United  States  Senator  for  the  Cen- 
tennial State.  The  interest  was  augmented  about  the 
court  house,  because  District  Judge  was  an  ac- 
tive candidate.  He  was  perambulating  among  the  coun- 
try-men, slapping  them  on  the  shoulders,  and  calling  them 
Tom,  Dick,  Harry,  Old  Boy,  Old  Fellow,  and  other  fa- 
miliar appellations.  The  Judge  had  dressed  himself  gro- 
tesquely for  the  occasion.  He  had  regaled  himself  in  an 
unstarched  white  shirt,  without  a  collar;  an  old  pair  of 
dark  trousers,  without  suspenders,  were  bagging  from  be- 
low his  hips.  He  wore  a  pair  of  rusty  boots,  with  one 
trouser  leg  stuffed  in  one  boot  top,  and  the  other  drag- 
ging on  the  ground  over  the  other  boot.  A  well-worn 
slouched  hat  was  pulled  down  over  his  eyes,  and  a  long, 
weather-beaten  canvas  overcoat  covered  his  body.  He 
had  every  appearance  of  the  veritable  tough.  His  adver- 
tising agents  were  constantly  calling  attention  to  his  unos- 
tentatious personal  appearance,  and  always  ended  up  by 
saying  that  no  office,  or  ten-dollar-a-day  salary  could  in- 
flate him ;  that  he  would  always  be  one  of  the  boys.  The 
Judge's  opponent  was  a  young  republican  attorney  from 
Georgia,  clean,  handsomely  dressed,  and  deferential  in 
his  social  relations. 

(209)  PILGBIM.-12 


210  THE  PILGRIM 

The  friends  of  the  Judge  sought  to  make  the  contrast 
as  striking  as  possible.  The  delegates  generally  were 
miners  and  laboring  men,  dressed  in  their  talc-stained 
working  clothes,  and  the  Judge  had  an  impression  that 
unsoiled  garments  would  be  offensive  to  them. 

The  Capitol  Gity  delegation  came  down  solid  for 
the  clean,  tidy  Georgian.  This  created  quite  a  consterna- 
tion among  the  delegates,  and  they  began  devising  means 
to  break  this  solid  phalanx.  The  Judge  accosted  Dr. 
Sawyer,  the  county  chairman,  saying,  "Looky  here,  there 
is  a  — —  nigger  in  that  delegation,  and  I  can  take  him 
away  from  that  reconstructed  rebel,  if  I  can  get  a  quiet 
place  to  talk  with  him." 

"Very  well/'  answered  the  chairman,  "my  rear  room 
is  at  your  disposal,  whisky  and  cigars  can  be  had  for 
the  asking,  now  do  your  work  well." 

Mr.  Jack  Hoyt  was  despatched  for  the  colored  dele- 
gate; a  bottle  of  whisky  and  a  box  of  cigars  were  con- 
veniently placed  in  the  room. 

The  colored  man  was  soon  ushered  in,  deferentially 
introduced  as  a  leading  owner  and  the  manager  of  the 
Morning  Star  Mine,  and  an  influential  delegate  from 
Capitol  City.  He  was  given  a  dram  and  a  cigar.  The 
Judge  told  him  that  he  was  a  northern  man,  and  had 
been  a  general  in  the  Union  Army  during  the  Rebellion, 
and  recounted  one  hair-breadth  escape  after  another,  while 
fighting  for  the  freedom  of  the  negro  race ;  that  at  the  same 
time  his  opponent  was  leading  a  brigade  in  the  Rebel 
Army,  trying  to  hold  them  in  bondage.  Turning  to 
the  colored  man,  he  looked  him  squarely  in  the  face,  and 
said  firmly :  "I  expect,  yes,  I  demand  your  support. 
You  cannot,  you  dare  not,  commit  treason  to  your  race  by 
voting  for  this  slave-driving  Rebel." 


AND  THE  PIONEER  211 

The  colored  man's  eyes  rolled  in  their  sockets,  ex- 
posing only  their  chalky  white.  He  pushed  the  muscles 
of  his  thick  jaws  and  lips  out  with  his  rigid  tongue,  and 
the  froth  exuded  from  his  mouth  for  a  few  moments  be- 
fore he  composed  himself,  then  he  turned  squarely  toward 
the  Judge  and  said: 

"Now  looky  here,  white  man,  what  du  ye  take  me 
for,  anyhow  ?  De  war  wus  done  ober  and  it  wusunt  fought 
for  de  nigger  neither.  Don't  youens  all  say  youens  wus 
fighting  all  de  time  for  de  Union,  and  ye  didn't  kere  fur 

de nigger  at  all  ?  Didn't  President  Lincoln,  when 

de  war  wus  half  ober,  offer  our  old  Massas  all  of  der 
slaves,  all  de  time,  if  dey  would  bring  de  states  back  into 
de  Union  ?  Ain't  it  bout  time  youens  wus  telling  de  truth 
'bout  dat  war  ?  Youens  knows  ye  just  set  us  free  to  spite 
de  rich  soudern  Massas,  ca'se  dey  seceded,  and  ca'se  de 
nordern  people  wus  jealous  of  deyer  great  power  and 
riches.  If  wes  to  be  slaves  again  wed  take  our  old  Massas 
ca'se  we  knows  theys  high  toned  gentlemen.  They  never 
told  a  story  to  no  slave  on  de  hill,  but  my  Lordy  how 
dese  here  nordern  people  does  prevericate!  Judge,  you 
says  Mr.  Brown  was  leading  a  rebel  regiment  in  de 
rebel  army.  Massa  Brown  was  just  a  little 
kid  during  de  war,  working  in  de  corn  field  ebery 
day,  or  hiding  out  de  stock  in  de  thickets  to  keep  de 
Yankees  from  stealing  em  all.  I  knows  ca'se  I  seed  him 
ebery  day.  O,  Judge,  you  did  told  a  whopper  'bout 
Massa  Brown,  and  I  specks  yus  told  one  'bout  yerse'f, 
and  dat  ye  wusen't  in  de  war  yerself,  or  wus  in  de 
rebel  army.  I'se  not  guine  to  vote  for  no  big  story-teller 
like  you  is  for  U.  S.  Senator,  no  sir-ee.  Now  there's 
Massa  Brown,  he  talks,  dresses,  and  acts  like  a  real  gentle- 
man, and  is  fitten  for  U.  S.  senator.  Excuse  me  Judge, 


212  THE  PILGRIM 

but  you  dresses,  talks,  and  looks  jest  like  de  poor  white 
trash  down  south,  and  no  nigger  eber  votes  or  associates 
with  sich  catties.'7 

The  Judge  lost  his  temper  and  said,  "You  can  go 
to  -  — .  What  more  can  be  expected  from  a  — • — — 
nigger?  I  wish  the  Democrats  would  get  in  power,  and 
re-enslave  every  black  scoundrel  in  the  United  States. 
They  don't  deserve  to  be  free,  anyway." 

The  colored  delegate  fairly  cackled,  shook  his  head, 
and  said,  "Umph,  wouldn't  I  be  a  fine  honey-suckle  to 
vote  for  such  an  old  rapscalion  as  you  is  ?  If  you  wus  not 
a  reb  in  de  war  you  is  one  now  shore.  Shucks,  my  white 
folks  wouldn't  make  a  door  mat  of  such  a  dirty  ting  as 
you  is.  You  wants  to  free  us  from  de  high  toned  gen- 
tlemen dat  was  our  massas,  and  wants  to  make  slaves 
of  us  to  de  likes  of  you.  No  sir,  not  in  a  tousand  years 
will  Ezekiel  trow  hisself  away  by  voting  for  any  poor 
white  trash !" 

The  convention  was  called  to  order  on  time.  The 
chairman  made  a  grandiloquent  address,  constantly  re- 
ferring to  the  great  manhood  that  was  found  under  soiled 
linen,  and  pictured  the  beautiful  looking  apple  that  was 
so  often  rotten  at  the  core,  making  the  application  to  the 
miners  in  their  talc-stained  suits,  and  the  dressy  profes- 
sional and  business  classes  of  the  country.  He  highly  com- 
mended the  superior  intelligence  of  the  western  delegates, 
and  often  lauded  the  Judge  for  his  genial  and  democratic 
proclivities.  He  said,  "I  want  yo'u  to  look  at  him,  boys, 
he  is  the  poorest  dressed  man  in  the  room,  and  does  not 
feel  himself  above  the  common  scavenger  in  the  street, 
which  bespeaks  his  worthiness  to  receive  the  vote  of  every 
laboring  man  in  the  state." 

At  the  end  of  the  Chairman's  speech,  a  committee 


AND  THE  PIONEER  213 

on  credentials  was  appointed,  and  sent  out  to  determine 
what  delegates  were  entitled  to  seats  in  the  convention. 
While  the  committee  was  out  the  Judge  was  invited  to 
address  the  delegates.  He  dilated  on  the  glorious  achieve- 
ments of  the  grand  old  party,  and  particularly  for  the 
emancipation  of  4,000,000  black  slaves.  He  flattered 
the  delegates  on  their  manhood,  intelligence,  and  pure 
hearts.  He  said  that  the  like  were  rarely  found  else- 
where than  under  soiled  garments.  In  closing  he  turned 
to  the  colored  delegate,  and  said,  "There  is  duly  commis- 
sioned here  a  sole  representative  of  the  emancipated  negro 
race.  While  you  white  delegates  represent  less  than  100 
persons  each,  this  colored  delegate  represents  a  race  of 
6,000,000  persons.  He  is  on  trial  today,  and  his  acts 
in  voting  for  one  who  fought  four  years  for  his  freedom, 
or  for  one  who  gave  aid  and  comfort  to  his  oppressors, 
will  show  whether  he  is  worth  the  great  sacrifice."  When 
the  Judge  closed,  the  delegates  almost  raised  the  roof 
from  the  building  with  the  force  of  their  vociferous  ap- 
plause. 

His  managers  folded  him  in  their  arms,  and  carried 
him  to  the  rear  of  the  building  to  the  seats  set  apart  for 
them.  In  the  struggle  they  pulled  the  buttons  from  his  top 
shirt  and  exposed  another  of  the  same  type.  They  un- 
buttoned it  and  found  a  third  one;  they  opened  this  and 
exposed  a  filthy  undershirt.  His  admirers  stood  him  on 
his  feet  and  carefully  separated  and  exposed  one  shirt 
after  another,  until  four  were  counted  on  his  back.  They 
commended  his  slovenly  demeanor  and  dirty  linen,  and  his 
aspirations  for  a  low  social  standing,  as  eminent  quali- 
fications for  a  U.  S.  senator.  They  glowingly  contrasted 
his  lovely  filth  with  the  despised  cleanliness  of  the  Geor- 
gian, and  finished  by  proclaiming  that  the  colored  delegate 


214  THE  PILGRIM 

could  not  and  dared  not,  if  he  could,  vote  against  the 
emancipator  of  his  race,  especially  when  his  rival  was 
a  constructive,  if  not  an  active  rebel. 

Ultimately  the  voices  of  the  Judge's  friends  called 
for  the  colored  delegate  from  every  part  of  the  house. 
When  he  stood  upon  his  feet  every  one  in  the  house, 
except  the  Oapitol  City  delegation,  greeted  him  with 
tumultuous  applause.  They  thought  that  the  colored  dele- 
gate had  weakened,  and  was  about  to  declare  himself 
for  the  Judge's  candidacy  for  the  legislature. 

When  the  noise  ceased  the  colored  delegate  said, 
"Fse  but  a  despised,  colored  ex-slave,  but  Fse  thankful 
to  God  that  my  old  massa  wus  a  real  southern  gentleman, 
who  learned  me  dat  'cleanliness  is  next  to  Godliness.' 
I'se  in  filth  and  rags  ca'se  Fse  too  poor  to  buy  soap  and 
clothes,  but  as  soon  as  I  gits  some  pay  ore  out  ob  de 
Morning  Star,  I'se  guine  to  buy  a  box  ob  soap  and  some 
clean  clothes,  den  Fll  t'ink  more  ob  myself.  If  de 
Jedge  wus  a  candidate  in  Chicago  he'd  appear  in  silk 
stockings  and  broadcloth,  ca'se  he's  all  tings  to  all  men. 
He  spects  to  get  our  support  by  showing  us  dat  he  loves 
to  be  nastier  den  we  has  to  be.  Our  work  requires 
dirty  clothes,  and  we  can't  keep  'em  clean,  and  we  are 
dirty  from  necessity.  De  Jedge's  work  requires  clean 
clothes,  and  he's  filthy  from  choice,  or  ca'se  he  tinks 
we'll  love  him  for  his  dirt.  Delegates,  dis  is  not  de  Jedge's 
ebery  day  clothes;  he  has  dressed  up  like  a  circus  clown, 
and  he  has  got  on  all  dose  shirts  jest  to  make  us  tink  dat 
he's  onery  and  too  common  to  carry  a  valise,  or  brush 
de  dirt  off  of  hisself .  Dis  idea  dat  he's  trav'lin  de  circuit 
wid  tree  or  four  pair  ob  cheap  socks  and  paper  collars 
and  shirts  in  a  paper,  and  dat  ebery  time  dat  a  pair  of 
socks  or  a  collar  gits  dirty,  he  trows  dem  away,  and 


AND  THE  PIONEER  215 

when  his  shirt  gits  dirty  he  slips  another  ober  it  until 
he  has  tree  or  four  dirty  shirts  on  his  filthy  back,  and 
I  spects  some  oder  filthy  tings  creeping  ober  de  back, 
shows  dat  he  is  more  shiftless  dan  de  trashiest  ob  de 
southern  white  trash.  Maybe  you  wants  such  a  candidate 
for  de  white  folks,  But  I  won't  disgrace  de  nigger  race, 
or  trow  myself  away  by  voting  for  such  a  dirty  hoodlum 
as  he  is ;  sides,  Massa  Brown  is  jest  as  good  a  'publican." 
The  delegate  reported  his  experience  with  the  Judge, 
and  how  he  told  a  "whopper"on  Massa  Brown,  a  high-ton- 
ed southern  gentleman,  "fitten  for  anybody  to  vote  for." 
The  Judge  interposed,  and  asked  the  delegate  if  his  south- 
ern friend  would  eat  or  sleep  with  him.  The  colored  dele- 
gate indignantly  said,  "No,  sir,  no  more  den  I  would  eat 
and  sleep  wid  de  poor  white  trash,  ca'se  we  wurn't  raised 
dat  way.  The  difference  between  Massa  Brown  and  you. 
Jedge,  is  dat  you  would  eat  or  sleep  wid  me  or  any  oder 
filthy  nigger  who  would  pay  for  hjs  own  bed  and  board, 
but  if  I  come  down  from  de  Morning  Star,  broke,  hungry, 
and  sleepy,  and  asked  you  for  some  grub  and  a  bed,  when 
you  wusen't  running  for  office,  you  would  turn  on  your  heel 
and  say,  'go  git  your  own  board  and  lodging,  you  lazy 
black  scoundrel ;'  but  if  I  went  to  Massa  Brown  and  told 
him  dat  I  was  broke,  hungry,  and  sleepy,  he  would  say, 
'Why,  come  right  ober  here  to  Mr.  Jones'  hotel,'  and  he 
would  say,  'Jones,  gib  Ezekiel  a  good  square  meal  and 
a  bed  and  bring  de  bill  to  me.'  You  nordern  people 
make  a  great  fuss  about  de  little  social  fixins  dat  cost  you 
not'ing,  but  when  it  comes  to  givin'  a  nigger  something 
substantial  you  are  not  dare.  What  de  nigger  wants  is 
someting  to  eat  and  a  place  to  sleep.  He  is  not  after 
someone  to  eat  wid  or  to  sleep  wid.  Now  I  will  leave 
it  to  you  delegates  which  is  de  real  friend  of  de  nigger, 


216  .  THE  PILGRIM 

de  Jedge,  who's  willing  to  eat  and  sleep  wid  de  nigger 
when  he  pays  his  own  board  and  lodgin',  and  kicks  him 
out  to  starve  and  freeze  when  he's  broke,  or  Massa  Brown, 
who  won't  eat  or  sleep  wid  a  nigger,  but  if  dat  nigger 
sufferin'  for  victuals  or  sleep,  will  go  down  in  his  pocket  an' 
dig  up  de  grub  and  de  bed  for  him  to  eat  or  sleep  by  his- 
self.  I  ask  you  delegates  who  is  de  real  frien'  of  de  nigger's 
freedom,  de  man  who  tooked  him  from  his  massa,  and 
now  wants  to  own  and  use  him  hisself  for  de  balance  of 
his  life,  or  his  old  massa,  who  says,  'Ezekiel,  youse  as 
free  as  I  is  now  and  can  do  as  you  please.  I'll  hire  you 
and  pay  you  as  much  as  anybody  else,  you  ken  work  for 
rue,  or  go  whare  you  like ;'  and  when  election  day  comes 
he  says,  'you  is  got  as  much  right  to  vote  for  who  you 
likes  as  I  has.  Look  ober  your  ticket,  and  vote  for  dose 
dat  you  tink  will  treat  you  best.'  Is  de  soudern  folks 
dat  gib  de  nigger  work  and  personal  freedom  all  de  time, 
or  de  nordern  people  dat  don't  care  for  him  'cept  at  'lec- 
tion, and  not  den  'less  he  votes  der  ticket,  de  real  frien' 
to  de  nigger  ? 

"I  knows  some  of  de  nordern  delegates  tink  we's 
ungrateful  to  de  north  for  freedom,  but  if  de  nordern 
people  hadn't  sold  us  to  de  soudern  people,  dey  wouldn't 
a  lost  all  dat  precious  blood  undoing  deyes  own  wrongs. 
Dey  is  two  sides  to  all  dese  questions.  De  nigger  am  not 
complaining  of  nobody,  and  dey  are  not  tanking  many 
people.  If  de  nordern  speculators  hadn't  stold  us  from 
Africa  we'ens  'ud  be  in  barbarism  dere  now.  If  dey  had  not 
sold  us  to  de  high  toned  soudern  gentlemen  we'ens  would- 
n't 'a  had  such  fine  opportunities  to  grow  out  of  our  ig- 
norance. It  looks  like  dat  we'ens  is  under  no  obligations 
to  nobody  but  de  Lord,  who  tooked  dis  debious  way  of 
delibering  de  nigger  from  barbarism.  De  nigger  whose 


AND  THE  PIONEER  217 

been  in  slavery  is  a  tousand  times  better  off  dan  de  nigger 
dat  was  never  stold,  and  dat  was  never  in  slavery,  so  I 
jest  guess  de  Lord  is  responsible  for  all  dis.  Now,  gen- 
tlemen delegates,  I  has  jest  one  request  to  make.  Youens 
has  hearn  de  Jedge's  coarse  harangue,  and  I  wants  youens 
to  jest  invite  Massa  Brown  to  address  dis  convention  so 
dat  you  can  see  de  difference  between  a  high  toned  soud- 
ern  gentleman  and  poor  white  trash,  before  youens  vote." 

When  the  colored  delegate  took  his  seat,  he  was  sur- 
prised at  the  generous  applause  and  the  hastening  of 
delegates  from  every  part  of  the  house  to  congratulate  him. 

"Massa  Brown"  was  invited  and  addressed  the  con- 
vention. 

In  chaste,  modest  language  he  heartily  thanked  the  dele- 
gates for  the  courtesy  extended  to  him,  and  told  them  that 
he  believed  that  office  should  seek  the  man,  but  "that  after 
much  persuasion  from  his  good  friends  he  had  consented 
to  become  merely  a  receptive  candidate ;  that  he  had  been 
informed  that  the  only  objection  urged  against  him  by 
his  opponents  was  that  he  was  dressy  and  aristocratic.  He 
declared  that  his  work  was  all  among  books  and  papers. 
The  very  preservation  of  these  required  a  spotless  cleanli- 
ness ;  that  every  man's  vocation  called  for  a  suitable  kind 
of  apparel,  and  his  work  was  such  that  it  was  easier  to  be 
cleanly  than  otherwise,  and  the  clean  linen  had  no  terror 
for  him  whatever ;  that  if  he  should  engage  in  mining,  or 
other  labor  where  cleanliness  of  garments  was  not  prac- 
ticable, he  would  not  think  of  wearing  other  than  the  talc- 
stained  suits  common  to  this  work,  and  that  he  had  as 
much  and  even  more  regard  for  the  man  who  wore  clothes 
suitable  to  his  calling  than  he  had  for  the  man  who  per- 
sisted in  being  filthy  where  his  work  required  neatness, 
or  for  some  aesthetic  individual  who  attempted  to  keep 


218  THE  PILGRIM 

a  spotless  apparel  where  the  character  of  his  vocation  made 
it  impracticable.  He  said  that  when  they  were  invited 
to  appear  before  this  convention  his  opponent  and  he  had 
each  changed  his  apparel ;  that  his  adversary  thought  that 
he  could  do  greater  honor  to  the  convention  by  appearing 
in  his  most  filthy  and  grotesque  apparel,  while  he  himself 
had  concluded  that  he  could  show  greater  respect  to  the 
convention  by  appearing  in  his  cleanest  and  best  attire, 
"If  I  should  be  favored  by  your  votes,"  said  he;  "and 
should  be  elected,  clothes  would  not  be  considered  by 
me  one  way  or  the  other ;  but  I  should  make  it  the  point 
of  every  effort  to  cast  my  vote  and  influence  toward  the 
men  and  measures  that  would  redound  to  the  greatest  good 
to  the  greatest  and  most  deserving  number." 

When  Mr.  Brown  bowed  himself  from  the  platform 
the  house  "fairly  shook  from  the  force  of  the  applause.  A 
delegate  jumped  to  his  feet  and  nominated  Mr.  Brown 
candidate  for  the  legislature,  and  he  was  nominated  with 
but  few  dissenting  votes.  It  is  a  debatable  question 
until  this  day  whether  .the  quaint  eloquence  of  the  colored 
delegate,  or  the  cleanly  appearance  and  methods  of  the 
Georgian  stampeded  the  convention  from  the  filthy  Judge. 

When  the  nomination  was  announced  the  Judge  slip- 
ped out  alone  and  dragged  himself  to  his  room  mumbling 
to  himself,  "Another  fatal  mistake — too  much  democracy 
again." 

Mr.  Wickham  met  the  Judge  at  dinner  and  expressed 
his  sore  regrets  that  the  delegates  to  the  convention  should 
have  been  so  unstable  and  erratic  in  their  political  con- 
victions as  to  allow  the  harangue  of  an  ignorant  negro 
delegate  to  stampede  them.  The  Pioneer  looked  consol- 
ingly into  the  eyes  of  the  Judge  and  inquired,  sympa- 
thetically :  - 


AND  THE   PIONEER  219 

"Does  your  defeat  here  put  you  out  of  the  race  ?" 

"Oh,  no,"  replied  the  Judge,  "I  have  a  dead  cinch 
on  the  nomination  and  election ;  I  am  in  the  impregnable 
combination  you  know,  which  makes  success  as  certain  as 
death.  Defeat  is  impossible.  This  local  defeat  led  by  a 
negro  is  humiliating,  that's  all." 

Mr.  Wickham,  thoroughly  interested  now,  anxiously 
inquired : 

"Have  you  any  objections  to  giving  me  an  outline  of 
this  wonderful  combination  ?" 

"Oh,  no !  not  to  you  sir,  a  close  personal  friend  and 
a  good  Republican  like  myself,"  replied  the  Judge. 

"You  know  we  have  about  4,000  non-English 
speaking  voters  in  this  state, — about  half  employed  in 
farming  and  stock  growing,  and  the  remainder  in  coal 
mining.  This  vote  is  the  balance  of  power  between  the 
factions  of  the  Republican  party,  and  between  the  Re- 
publican party  and  all  opposing  parties.  As  goes  this 
vote  so  goes  the  state.  All  parties  but  ours  are  pessimistic, 
and  constantly  annoy  and  menace  capital,  and  keep  it 
so  intimidated  that  we  can  always  go  to  the  banks,  the 
railroads  companies,  and  the  large  employers  of  labor,  and 
show  our  gre.at  fears  of  the  prestige  that  some  of  these 
calamity  parties  are  obtaining  with  the  voters,  and  they 
will  shell  out  a  liberal  campaign  fund  to  us.  We  then  go 
to  the  leading  merchants  who  furnish  supplies  on  long 
time  to  the  non-English  speaking  farmers  and  stock  grow- 
ers, and  arrange  with  them  for  a  liberal  part  of  this  cam- 
paign fund  or  some  good  offices  for  themselves  or  friends ; 
then  we  go  to  the  managers  of  the  coal  mines  and  tell  them 
the  great  favors  being  shown  for  the  candidates  of  one 
of  these  pessimistic  parties,  and  suggest  to  each  manager 
that  he  had  better  help  our  ticket  to  avoid  strikes  and 


220  THE  PILGRIM 

labor  troubles.  The  manager  generally  stilts  himself  on 
a  high  moral  pinnacle,  utterly  declines  to  interfere  with 
the  free  ballot  of  his  employes,  but  adds,  parenthetically, 
'I  will  send  a  letter  to  the  superintendent  that  you  be 
given  every  facility  to  talk  to  the  men.'  This  is  just  what 
we  want.  The  letter  is  so  worded  ttiat  the  superintendent 
is  shown  the  bias  of  the  -manager  for  our  ticket.  The 
superintendent  gives  us  a  like  letter  to  the  foreman  of 
the  mine.  We  go  to  him  and  show  him  the  natural  vote 
outside  of  the  mine,  and  tell  him  that  the  manager  and 
the  superintendent  are  for  our  ticket,  and  that  for  every 
majority  vote  for  us,  we  will  pay  him,  say  $1.00.  He 
sees  the  opportunity  for  a  great  day's  work,  goes  to  his 
shift  bosses  and  offers  them  10  cents  each  for  every  such 
vote.  The  rounder  in  our  executive  committee  calls  these 
leaders  to  Denver,  and  instructs  them  to  call  all  of  the 
manipulators  together,  including  such  local  Democrats  as 
can  be  arranged  with,  to  agree  on  judges  and  inter- 
preters who  will  stand  by  the  combination,  though  the 
heavens  fall.  They  then  agree  that  all  of  the  non-English 
speaking  classes,  though  some  may  understand  English, 
shall  call  for  interpreters.  One  of  the  combine  is  on 
hand,  and  is  selected  interpreter  and  fixes  up  the  tickets 
as  per  agreement,  regardless  of  what  the  voter  requests. 
The  leading  local  Democrats  are  compromised  and  taken 
care  of,  so  there  is  no  one  to  object  to  or  to  challenge  illegal 
votes.  Democrats  and  Republicans  request  that  no  speak- 
ers be  sent  or  arrangements  made  to  get  out  the  vote.  Each 
says  that  any  campaigning  will  hurt  his  ticket;  that  they 
want  all  of  the  funds  to  employ  these  influential  ones. 
This  furnishes  a  combination  that  beats  the  world.  This 
is  what  is  called  'practical  politics,'  which  means  that  you 
must  get  there  by  whatever  means  necessary.  I  have  this 


AND  THE  PIONEER  221 

machine  both  for  the  nomination  and  election,  and  I  know 
as  well  now  what  the  vote  will  be  as  I  will  know  when 
it  is  counted.  I  hope  that  you  appreciate  my  happy  po- 
sition." 

The  Pioneer  arose,  looked  the  Judge  directly  in 
the  eyes,  and  replied:  "I  scorn  your  'happy  position/ 
and  denounce  as  a  despoiler  of  human  liberty  any  one 
who  countenances  or  accepts  the  fruits  of  such  infamous 
villainy.  Is  it  possible  that  my  party,  the  Republican 
party,  the  party  of  Lincoln  and  Sumner,  founded  on  the 
rock  of  eternal  justice,  must  perpetuate  itself  in  power  by 
wholesale  bribery,  forgery,  and  the  utter  pollution  of 
the  very  fountain  of  human  liberty  ?  Is  it  possible  that 
even  the  local  organization  of  the  great  party  of  Jefferson 
and  stalwart  Andrew  Jackson  can  descend  to  such  di- 
abolical political  venality?  Can  the  bleached  bones  of 
these  great  men  remain  inert  while  such  scoundrels,  their 
alleged  devotees,  masquerading  as  their  disciples,  are 
sapping  the  very  foundation  of  the  institutions  they  so 
justly  contrived?  Is  it  possible  that  there  is 
no  longer  such  a  thing  as  a  public  or  political  conscience 
among  the  people?  Do  they  approve  of  partisan  office 
expectants  putting  up  public  places  at  public  auction? 
Is  this  constant  clamor'  for  a  free  ballot  and  a  fair  count 
a  hypocritical  cant  to  muddy  the  water,  that  the  people 
may  not  see  the  undermining  of  popular  government? 
The  negro  delegate  was  wiser  than  I  suspected.  His 
strong  instincts  took  your  proper  measure.  God  forbid 
that  you  or  your  nefarious  combination  usurp  the 
powers  of  an  honest  majority  rule  in  this  republic.  If 
the  people  would  demand  the  same  strict  rectitude  in  those 
charged  with  the  transaction  of  their  political  business 
as  they  do  of  those  serving  them  in  their  non-political 


222  THE  PILGRIM 

duties,  and  would  ostracize  a  political  thief  the  same  as 
they  would  an  ordinary  convict,  political  conscience  would 
soon  develop  so  that  the  people  would  have  faithful  service 
in  public  office  instead  of  the  too  usual  betrayal  of  the 
public  weal  to  serve  some  great  private  interest" 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

NEVER  MAKE  A  BLUFF   YOU   ARE   UNWILLING 
TO  BACK  UP  IF  CALLED. 

Messrs.  Mayer  &  Grebles  of  Saguache  did  a  large 
jobing  business  among  the  merchants  of  Lake  City.  Mr. 
Mayer,  who  spent  much  time  in  Lake  City,  was  in 
the  town  when  the  Pilgrim  and  the  Pioneer  arrived,  and 
lost  no  time  in  seeing  the  county  commissioners,  and  in- 
forming them  all  about  the  drawing  of  the  famous  part- 
nership agreement  and  the  wonderful  amount  of  legal 
acumen  that  this  Pilgrim  had  in  his  youthful  head,  he 
soon  convinced  them  of  the  advisability  of  appointing 
him  county  attorney.  The  salary  of  the  office  was  at 
once  fixed  at  $1,000,  and  the  appointment  was  made, 
tendered  to  Mr.  Campbell,  and  accepted. 

The  most  sedate,  handsome  and  dignified  personage 
about  the  court  house  was  the  under-sheriff.  All  of 
his  attitudes  and  movements  were  models  of  grace  and 
dignity.  It  was  said  that  he  never  made  a  pretense  at 
laughter  until  he  was  over  40  years  old.  At  the  latter 
age  he  married  a  gushing  widow  who  tried  to  teach  him 
to  laugh.  His  efforts  at  merriment  were  senseless  mock- 
eries, detected  by  all  who  heard  him.  However,  he  had  a 
keen  insight  into  the  ridiculous,  though  he  did  not  express 
it  through  laughter.  He  saw  clearly  the  absurdity  of  the 
partnership  agreement  story  and  the  consequent  appoint- 
ment of  the  Pilgrim  as  county  attorney.  On  the  very 
day  of  the  appointment,  the  board  of  county  commis- 
sioners disallowed  the  bill  of  Dr.  Mclntosh  for  doctoring 
(223) 


224  THE  PILGRIM 

the  poor,  without  a  request  from  the  board.  The  doctor 
heard  of  his  misfortune  and  repaired  to  the  court  house 
and  inquired  about  the  cause  for  the  disallowal.  The 
under-sheriff  told  him  of  the  appointment  of  this  won- 
derful attorney,  the  reference  of  the  bill  to  him  and  his 
report  against  it  and  detailed  to  the  doctor  numerous 
harsh  things  that  the  county  attorney  had  said  about 
him.  Dr.  Mclntosh  hunted  up  the  county  attorney 
for  the  purpose  of  holding  him  personally  accountable 
for  the  insults.  The  county  attorney  denied  everything 
and  told  the  doctor  that  he  had  been  imposed  upon.  Later 
in  the  evening  the  under-sheriff  and  Dr.  Mclntosh 
met  and  the  doctor  explained  the  mistakes  as  related  to 
him  by  the  Pilgrim.  The  under-sheriff  told  the  doctor 
that  he  had  just  left  the  county  attorney  and  that  the 
latter  had  related  to  him  how  he  had  thrown  the  Doctor 
off  his  guard,  and  told  him  many  other  disparaging  things 
the  county  attorney  had  said  about  him. 

The  doctor  inquired  of  the  officer  as  to  what  could 
be  done  to  make  this  young  limb  of  the  law  atone  for 
these  grave  insults. 

The  under-sheriff  answered,  "There  is  but  one 
honorable  way  for  a  gentleman  and  that  is  to  challenge 
him  to  mortal  combat  under  the  Code,  with  shotguns, 
at  twenty  paces." 

This  coincided  with  the  views  of  the  doctor,  hence 
the  challenge  was  forwarded  at  once  by  the  under-sheriff. 

Saturday  evening,  the  Judge  and  visiting  members 
of  the  bar  were  smoking  and  discussing  how  they  might 
amuse  themselves  during  Sunday,  without  any  feasible 
plan  of  diversion  being  in  sight. 


AND  THE  PIONEER  225 

The  dramatic  under-sheriff  suggested  that  if  they 
would  visit  Dead  Man's  Gulch  at  ten  o'clock  A.  M.,  they 
could  witness  the  settlement  of  a  grievous  dispute  between 
two  hot-headed  Southerners,  with  shotguns,  unless  that 
was  too  mild  an  entertainment  to  satisfy  their  desires. 
He  explained  that  the  county  attorney,  in  officially 
passing  on  the  doctor's  bill  for  treating  the  poor, 
was  not  satisfied  with  reporting  against  him,  but  had  gone 
beyond  the  legal  limits  and  criticised  him  to  the  board, 
depicting  him  as  a  worthless  and  dissipated  product  of  the 
gum-swamps  of  the  South,  raised  upon  persimmons  and 
polk-salad,  placing  him  in  the  first  rank  of  the  "low 
white  trash,"  so  common  to  that  region.  These  charges 
have  always  been  sufficient  cause,  in  that  sunny  land, 
for  an  appeal  to  the  Code  of  Honor,  but  the  inflated 
young  attorney  had  added  insult  to  injury  by  further 
declaring  that  the  doctor  was  self-employed,  showing  his 
low  breeding,  and  that  ethically  he  was  a  mere  quack. 
Such  an  insult  to  a  Kentuckian  must  be  avenged.  If 
we  do  not  let  them  go  and  orderly  shoot  it  out,  the 
first  time  they  meet  at  church,  court,  hotel,  or  crowded 
street,  they  will  open  the  duel  and  probably  kill  a  half 
dozen  innocent  persons  as  well  as  themselves.  When  men 
get  into  a  condition  that  nothing  but  a  little  blood-letting 
will  satisfy  them,  the  officers  should  see  that  this  gory 
ordeal  is  so  conducted  that  all  of  the  blood  will  be  taken 
from  the  aching  veins.  I  am  going  up  to  protect  the 
innocent." 

The  Judge  inquired: 

"Why  do  you  call  this  place  'Dead  Man's  Gulch?' 
Is  it  a  regular  dueling  ground  ?" 

"O,  no!  Your  question  calls  for  a  long  story. 
In  the  winter  of  1873  and  1874  twenty  odd  miners 


226  THE  PILGRIM 

left  Bingham  Canon,  Utah,  for  the  great  San  Juan  mines. 
In  the  Uncompahgre  Valley  they  separated  into  three 
parties  and  started  for  the  Los  Pinos  Indian  agency  for 
supplies.  Two  of  the  parties  turned  up  in  due  time,  but 
the  third  party  was  not  heard  of  till  in  the  spring  of 
1874,  when  Alfred  Packer  came  in  alone.  As  soon  as 
Chief  Ouray  saw  him  he  said,  'That  man  has  been  living 
on  human  flesh.'  This  proved  to  be  true,  but  how  he 
was  able  to  detect  this  from  the  mere  appearance  of 
Packer  has  always  been  a  mystery.  General  Adams  turned 
Packer  over  to  Constable  Lautter  and  had  him  questioned 
about  his  five  companions.  He  said  they  got  lost,  and 
their  provisions  became  exhausted;  that  they  existed  for 
awhile  on  their  shoe  leather,  which  they  boiled,  and  on 
rose  buds,  roots,  etc.,  and  finally  the  oldest  man  in  the 
party,  Mr.  Swan,  died,  and  they  ate  him ;  they  then  agreed 
to,  and  did,  draw  cuts  to  see  who  should  be  slaughtered 
from  time  to  time,  until  Humphries,  Miller,  and  Noon 
were  consumed,  leaving  only  Packer  and  Bell,  and  they 
had  a  battle  in  which  Packer  killed  Bell  and  ate  him. 

"General  Adams  told  him  to  go  back  with  the  con- 
stable and  some  others  and  verify  his  story,  and  he  should 
be  protected.  He  retraced  his  steps  to  a  few  camps,  then 
claimed  to  be  lost,  was  sent  to  jail  in  Saguache,  but 
escaped. 

"When  the  prospectors  swarmed  in  here  in  the  summer 
of  1874  they  found  in  a  dense  thicket  of  hemlock  about  two 
miles  above  Lake  City  on  the  Lake  Fork  of  the  Gunnison 
river,  four  of  his  comrades  dead  in  bed  with  their  blankets 
pulled  over  their  heads  and  hatchet-cuts  through  the 
blankets  and  on  through  their  skulls,  showing  that  they 
were  murdered  while  asleep;  Bell  was  lying  about  thirty 
yards  from  the  others  with  a  bullet-hole  through  him. 


AND  THE   PIONEER  227 

Many  human  meat-stakes  had  been  cut  from  the  thighs 
and  breast  of  a  fat  Irishman  among  the  murdered. 

"They  were  taken  upon  a  high  bank  above  the  river, 
five  graves  were  dug  side  by  side,  and  five  solemn  head- 
stones mark  the  resting  places  of  these  foully  murdered 
victims.  From  that  day  this  has  been  called  'Dead  Man's 
Gulch.'  " 

Since  that  time  Packer  has  been  apprehended,  tried, 
and  convicted  of  murder  in  the  first  degree,  and  sen- 
tenced to  be  hanged;  but  before  he  was  executed,  the  Su- 
preme Court  held  that  the  murder  statute  in  force  when 
the  crime  was  committeed  had  been  repealed,  without  a 
saving  clause,  and  that  he  could  only  be  sentenced  for 
manslaughter,  hence  the  court  sentenced  him  to  eight  years 
for  the  murder  of  each  of  his  five  companions  or  to  forty 
years  in  the  penitentiary.  He  is  now  planning  an  ac- 
quittal on  the  ground  that  it  was  Indian  Territory  where 
the  crime  was  committed,  and  that  the  state  court  had  no 
jurisdiction  to  try  him.  However,  the  commissioners  and 
the  Indians  had  signed  a  treaty  ceding  to  the  United 
States  the  land  where  the  crime  was  committed ;  after 
the  crime  congress  ratified  the  treaty  and  the  general 
current  of  authorities  is  to  the  effect  that  the  state's  right 
relates  back  to  the  time  of  signing  the  treaty,  which  would 
seem  to  make  the  conviction  legal. 

It  may  seem  strange  to  those  with  a  casual  knowledge 
of  this  famous  case  that  Alfred  Packer  should  be  incar- 
cerated for  killing  under  such  trying  circumstances,  es- 
pecially as  it  is  well  known  that  starvation  will  soon  create 
in  the  mind  of  its  victim  an  uncontrollable  desire  to  kill 
and  eat  a  companion ;  but  the  penalty  in  this  case  is  put  ex- 
clusively upon  a  bad  name.  The  traveling  companions 
of  the  prisoner  said  he  was  without  money  and  wanted 


228  THE  PILGRIM 

to  fight  on  the  early  part  of  the  journey;  and  that  he  had 
plenty  of  money  after  the  murder  and  spent  it  in  riotous 
living  and  in  unseemly  dissipation.  Forty  years  im- 
prisonment for  a  bad  name !  Probably  there  are  but  few, 
if  any,  cases  in  history,  where  a  good  character  would  have 
yielded  such  a  rich  return. 

When  the  challenge  was  sent  by  the.  physician  to  the 
county  attorney  he  was  so  irritated  at  Dr.  Mclntosh's 
challenge,  after  he  had  denied  all  knowledge  of  the  al- 
leged insult,  that  he  wrote  the  following  curt  reply : 

"You  doggoned  fool,  you;  you  will  die  soon  enough 
without  begging  me  to  kill  you." 

The  under-sheriff  read  it  and  said: 

"Now,  look  here,  that  won't  do.  If  you  send  that 
reply  he  will  think  you  are  afraid  of  him,  show  it  to  all 
his  friends,  and  whenever  you  meet  him  in  public  he  will 
heap  such  indignities  upon  you  that  you  will  have  to  kill 
him  in  self-defense.  I  would  suggest  this  answer: 

I  cheerfully  accept  your  challenge  to  mortal  combat 
and  as  the  Code  permits  me  to  select  the  weapons,  time, 
place,  etc.,  I  choose  double-barrelled  shotguns  at  twenty 
paces,  duel  to  take  place  at  Dead  Man's  Gulch  at  ten  o'clock 
next  Sunday.  If  he  has  any  religious  scruples  he  will 
decline  to  fight  on  Sunday ;  the  designation  of  Dead  Man's 
Gulch  will  bring  vividly  to  his  mind  the  horrors  of  the 
tragic  butchery  of  those  five  men  at  that  lonely  spot ;  and 
choosing  double-barrelled  shotguns  at  twenty  paces  will 
give  him  warning  that  you  mean  that  both  shall  be  reduced 
to  a  common  level  by  an  early  return  to  mother  dust.  He 
will  find  some  excuse  to  decline,'  he  will  be  humiliated, 
and  will  be  sneaking  around  like  a  whipped  cur,  while 
you  will  imperiously  walk  the  streets  in  open  defiance  of 
the  whole  world." 


AND  THE  PIONEER  229 

The  county  attorney  replied  that  he  was  not  a 
fighting  man,  did  not  believe  in  the  Gode,  did  not  want  to 
kill  any  one  else,  and  did  not  want  to  be  killed  himself. 
He  asked:  "Now,  suppose  he  should  accept  those  bloody 
terms,  then  what  would  I  do?" 

"Oh !  now,"  responded  the  under-sheriff,  "let's  not 
imagine  the  impossible,  then  throw  ourselves  into  a  brain 
fever  trying  to  avoid  an  empty  shadow.  Now,  you  get 
your  pen  and  write  and  I  shall  dictate !"  The  reply  was 
written  as  suggested  and  given  to  the  under-sheriff,  who 
took  it  over  to  the  doctor's  office ;  the  doctor  read  it  and 
unconditionally  accepted  the  terms  in  such  an  unconcerned 
way v  that  it  threw  the  under-sheriff  into  complete  con- 
sternation.. He  began  siding  with  and  encouraging  the 
doctor,  and  finally  got  himself  chosen  as  his  second.  He 
withheld  the  answer  from  the  county  attorney  until 
Saturday  morning,  fearing  that  two  nights  of  fear  might 
break  down  his  nervous  system. 

When  the  reply  was  delivered  it  completely  upset 
the  county  attorney.  He  wrung  his  hands  and  exclaimed : 

"Oh,  Heavens !  You,  a  high  peace  officer,  instead  of 
protecting  me  have  dragged  me  into  the  very  jaws  of 
death.  What  will  my  poor  father  and  mother  think  ?  Oh, 
Heaven  save  me !" 

"Now,  look  here,"  said  the  under-sheriff,  "he  is  playing 
the  very  same  game  that  we  are  playing.  He  is  bluffing. 
You  must  make  him  think  you.  are  hungering  and  thirst- 
ing after  human  gore,  then  he  will  lay  down.  I  have 
worked  into  his  good  graces  and  he  has  made  me  his  sec- 
ond, which  will  enable  me  to  influence  the  doctor  in  favor 
of  honorable  peace.  Now,  you  select  Mr.  Wickham  as 
your  second  and  between  us  we  shall,  we  must,  stop  any 
bloodshed,  even  if  we  have  to  put  you  both  in  jail." 


230  THE  PILGRIM 

"Anything,  anywhere,"  shouted  the  county  attorney, 
"  to  prevent  this  bloody  murder.  It  would  really  kill  my 
poor  old  mother,  too.  I  just  can't  and  I  won't  stand  it." 

The  two  seconds  agreed  to  have  their  principals  at 
Dead  Man's  Gulch  by  half-past  nine  Sunday  to  get  the 
influence  of  that  horrible,  bloody  Packer  tragedy  on  the 
incorrigible  doctor,  who  was  giving  all  hands  much 
trouble. 

At  half-past  nine  Sunday  morning  the  principals, 
with  their  seconds,  appeared  upon  the  ground,  measured 
off  twenty  paces,  walked  over  the  scene  of  the  bloodiest 
and  most  pitiless  crime  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  the 
under-sheriff  graphically  described  the  details  of  the  hor- 
ror,— but  no  change  came  over  the  doctor.  The  under-sheriff 
told  him  that  he  understood  that  the  county  attorney  was 
a  great  shotgun  man.  Said  two  quails  might  fly  in  dif- 
ferent directions,  and  with  no  effort,  he  could  kill  them 
both,  and  that  he  really  believed  he  was  so  all-fired  quick 
that  if  he  had  a  three  barreled  gun,  and  three  quails  should 
fly  in  different  directions,  he  would  get  them  all.  The 
doctor  paid  no  attention  to  him.  They  walked  him  over 
the  five  graves,  stopped  him  at  the  headstones,  read  and 
commented  on  the  epitaphs  and  the  grief  of  their  families, 
how  it  had  impoverished  the  child  of  this  one,  killed  the 
mother  of  that  one,  etc.,  and  discussed  the  general  hor- 
rors of  death,  but  the  doctor  ignored  it  all.  Then  the 
under-sheriff,  in  his  despair,  suggested  that  they  kneel  and 
pray ;  three  knelt,  but  the  doctor  must  have  been  a  Presby- 
terian, for  he  stood  erect  with  his  cold  steel  gray  eyes  al- 
ways up  and  toward  the  front,  with  a  military  bearing.  His 
second  devoutly  prayed  that  the  shotgun  might  soon  be 
beaten  into  branding  irons  and  that  men  might  in  general 
be  spared  from  "the  shroud,  the  deep,  damp  vault  and  the 


THE  DUEL. 


AND  THE  PIONEER  233 

worm"  until  a  ripe  old  age  caused  them  to  welcome  such 
environments.  He.  prayed  for  the  hatchet-mangled  vic- 
tims that  slept  in  that  lonesome  graveyard  and  begged 
that  all  persons  in  the  prime  of  young  manhood  might  be 
saved  from  the  frightful  horrors  of  an  untimely  death. 
The  doctor  never  budged,  but  the  county  attorney  could 
not  stand  the  strain  any  longer.  He  put  his  handkerchief 
to  his  eyes  and  boohooed,  and  asked  if  mutual  apologies 
might  not  prevent  this  bloody  scene?  His  adversary 
looked  cold  daggers  at  him,  unmoved.  It  was  now  nine- 
forty  and  something  must  be  done  quickly.  Said  the  under- 
sheriff  to  Mr.  Wickham,  "Nothing  but  human  gore  and 
lots  of  it  will  do  that  cold-blooded  doctor,  and  we  must 
be  very  careful  or  he  may  conclude  to  kill  two  or  three 
of  us  instead  of  one." 

The  seconds  took  the  guns,  went  into  an  abandoned 
mining  tunnel,  consulted  together,  came  out  at  10  o'clock, 
promptly  stationed  the  principals  and  handed  each  a 
cocked  shotgun.  At  the  signal  the  doctor  quickly  aimed 
and  fired,  then  came  to  a  tension  position,  endeavoring 
to  see  the  effects  of  his  shot.  At  the  crack  of  his  gun, 
Mr.  Campbell  fell  sprawling  on  his  face,  the  jar  dis- 
charged his  gun,  the  load  striking  the  ground  with  such 
force  that  it  raised  so  great  a  cloud  of  dust  that  the  crowd 
could  not  tell  whether  he  was  up  or  down.  The  seconds 
hurried  to  him,  and  appointed  assistants  to  keep  the  crowd 
back;  physicians  came  rushing  to  the  rescue,  were  inso- 
lently pushed  back  and  went  away  indignant,  and  while 
this  pandemonium  was  at  its  height  some  one  cried  out, 
"Look !  look !  The  murderer  is  escaping." 

The  doctor  had  seized  the  under-sheriffs  horse,  saddle, 
and  overcoat,  and  was  going  at  a  head-long  gait  up  the 
river.  Under  the  laws  of  Colorado  it  was  a  crime  to  kill 


234  THE  PILGRIM 

another,  even  in  a  duel  where  both  men  agreed  to  it.  The 
under-sheriff  exclaimed,  "That  is  a  $250  outfit,  and  I  can't 
afford  to  lose  that  to  save  this  man  with  a  shattered  and 
worthless  constitution."  He  left  the  prostrate  man,  organ- 
ized a  body  of  horsemen  and  ordered  them  to  take  a  short 
cut  and  head  off  the  murderer.  About  sun-down  the  men 
met  the  doctor,  and  ordered  him  to  throw  up  his  hands,  but 
instead  of  obeying  he  slipped  from  the  horse's  back  and 
darted  into  a  spruce  jungle  out  of  sight. 

When  the  under-sheriff  returned  to  Mr.  Campbell,  his 
eyes  were  wide  open,  but  he  was  limp  and  helpless.  "Are 
you  dead  or  alive?"  asked  the  under-sheriff.  "I  think  I 
am  shot  all  to  pieces,"  replied  the  Pilgrim.  The  under- 
sheriff  called  a  doctor  through  the  guards  and  ordered  him 
examined.  The  doctor  asked  the  Pilgrim  where  he  was  hit. 
In  a  very  faint  voice  he  said  he  felt  as  if  he  was  shot  all 
over,  for  he  couldn't  move.  The  doctor  had  him  turned 
from  side  to  side  and  examined  his  clothes  for  blood,  but 
could  find  no  indication  of  it.  "Then  exclaiming,  'I  guess  he 
is  bleeding  internally,"  ordered  his  clothes  immediately 
ripped  from  his  body ;  after  minutely  examining  him  the 
doctor  said,  "Why,  this  man  hasn't  a  wound  about  his 
body!" 

Mr.  Campbell  replied,  "I  was  struck  with  something 
that  felled  me  to  the  ground,  and  I  haven't  been  able  to 
get  up  or  move  since." 

The  under-sheriff  solemnly  looked  him  in  the  eye  and 
said :  "You  were  shot  with  a  load  of  fear.  We  went  into 
the  tunnel  just  before  10  o'clock,  took  a  cork-screw  and 
removed  every  buck-shot  from  the  cartridges,  and  left 
nothing  in  them  but  powder,  paper  wads,  and  a  good 
charge  of  fear,  which  I  think  struck  you." 

The  Pilgrim  began  to  work  his  arms  and  his  legs 


AND  THE   PIONEER  235 

and  asked :  "Are  you  sure  that  you  didn't  leave  a  shot  in 
his  gun?  I  feel  a  little  better,  but  it  seems  to  me  that 
there  is  something  wrong  yet." 

The  conviction  soon  permeated  the  crowd  that  one  . 
of  the  most  successful  sham  duels  that  ever  was  fought 
had  just  been  consummated.  The  two  seconds  were  the 
only  ones  in  the  secret  and  it  was  a  bloody  buck-shot  duel 
in  the  minds  of  everybody  else.  They  had  to  wrap  Mr. 
Campbell  in  blankets  and  haul  him  home,  as  his  clothes 
had  been  cut  into  strings  to  enable  the  doctors  to  make 
the  necessary  examination.  Dr.  Mclntosh  thought  his 
victim  was  dead  until  the  next  evening. 

He  said  he  experienced  all  the  sanguinary  horrors 
of  a  murderer;  saw  the  grim,  clammy  ghosts  sitting 
on  the  drooping  limbs  of  the  bushy  hemlock  at  the  foot  of 
his  crude  couch  all  through  the  long,  long  night;  felt  the 
clammy  hobgoblins  creeping  over  his  face  and  chasing 
sleep  from  his  tired  eyelids ;  and  he  would  have  given  all 
he  had  or  ever  expected  to  have,  to  wash  the  blood  of  his 
victim  from  his  hands  in  twenty  minutes  after  the  fatal 
shot. 

The  county  attorney  slept  like  a  baby  Sunday  night, 
but  bowie  knives,  shotguns,  and  spouts  of  crimson  blood, 
had  stared  him  in  the  face  all  of  Saturday  night,  and  his 
agonizing  fear  had  impaled  him.  He  never  failed  after- 
ward to  admonish  his  friends  never  to  make  a  bluff  that 
they  were  not  willing  to  back  up,  if  called  on  to  do  so. 

The  countenance  of  the  under-sheriff  never  changed 
except  when  he  saw  the  doctor  escaping  on  his  horse  and 
taking  his  overcoat  along.  He  did  not  seem  to  see 
any  fun  in  this,  but  felt  that  he  had  executed  a  piece  of 
fine  work  in  getting  the  county  attorney,  who  had  been 
challenged  to  mortal  combat,  out  alive  and  with  honor. 


CHAPTEK  XVIII. 

"CANT"  NOT   APPLICABLE    TO  A  JUST  CAUSE 

The  Pioneer  and  the  Pilgrim  were  clearing  up 
the  office  'after  their  return  from  breakfast,  when  Mr. 
John  Gaylord,  a  young  lumberman,  entered  the  office  with 
a  summons  in  his  hand  and  a  dark  cloud  on  his  brow. 

"Mr.  Campbell,  while  I  was  in  Labette  County, 
Kansas,  I  signed  a  note  for  a  neighbor  as  an  accomoda- 
tion ;  the  note  was  amply  secured  on  mortgaged  property 
of  beneficiary.  When  it  came  due  the  bank,  as  payee, 
took  the  mortgaged  property,  advertised  it,  bought  it  in 
for  a  trifle,  and  as  I  was  leaving  Kansas  to  come  out  here, 
they  sued  me  for  the  balance  due,  amounting  to  over 
$5,000,  got  a  judgment,  obtained  a  transcript  for  the 
same,  sent  it  here  to  Messrs.  Denton  &  Gunning,  and 
they  have  sued  me  on  that  judgment  in  the  district  court. 
I  took  the  summons  to  Mr.  Trenton,  one  of  the  best  law- 
yers in  Colorado,  and  he  says  that  if  they  served  me  with 
a  summons  in  Kansas  and  regularly  got  a  judgment  there, 
they  can  sue  me  on  that  judgment  here,  and  offer  a  regu- 
lar transcript  in  evidence  at  the  trial,  and  that  I  can  dis- 
pute nothing  if  the  court  had  jurisdiction  in  Kansas.  The 
best  he  could  promise  me  was  to  delay  it  for  a  year,  but 
he  wants  to  charge  me  $250  for  this  and  I  am  unable  to 
pay  it.  I  will  give  you  $50  if  you  will  take  this  summons 
and  look  into  it  and  keep  it  off  as  long  as  possible.  The 
bank  got  property  worth  more  than  the  debt  and  every 
cent  I  have  to  pay  will  be  the  result  of  extortion." 

(237) 


238  THE  PILGRIM 

"Very  well,"  the  Pilgrim  replied,  "I  will  do  what 
I  can  for  you." 

After  Mr.  Gaylord  left  Mr.  Wickham  suggested: 

"Mr.  Campbell,  my  mind  has  been  recurring  to  the 
past  Don't  you  remember  the  second  night  you  were  in  Del 
Norte  as  a  result  of  your  being  summoned  on  a  jury,  when 
by  reason  of  a  few  apt,  epigrammatic  truisms,  spontaneous- 
ly coined  on  your  fvoir  dire/  you  were  engaged  by  the  un- 
protected and  outraged  defendant,  exculpated  him  from  the 
clutches  of  a  gang  of  thieves,  and  made  yourself  locally 
famous?  Do  you  remember  that  the  second  day  you 
were  in  Saguache,  you  drew  that  magical  copartnership 
agreement  that  immediately  paved  your  way  to  glory  and 
to  a  competency?  While  Mr.  Gaylord  was  relating  the 
depraved  manner  in  which  that  hard  fisted,  cold,  clammy 
banker,  protected  by  a  mere  legal  technicality,  is  about  to 
commit  a  judicial  theft  of  all  the  savings  of  his  lifetime, 
I  had  a  presentiment  that  this  case  is  not  hopeless,  that 
it  is  to  be  your  greatest  victory,  justice  is  to  prevail,  and 
your  reputation  is  to  be  established  in  Lake  City." 

"Well,"  replied  the  attorney,  "if  Mr.  Trenton,  with 
his  acknowledged  great  ability,  had  not  pronounced  the 
case  hopeless,  from  the  long  course  of  successful  achieve- 
ments I  have  gained  under  your  direction  in  the  past,  I 
should  certainly  be  inspired  by  you  again,  but  this  time  I 
must  ask  a  profert  of  your  premonition  of  success." 

"Will  you  not  allow  the  undaunted  optimist  to  test 
his  Creed  on  this  presumably  hopeless  case  ?  Allow  me  to 
argue  a  little  before  you  reply.  Success  in  this  case  is 
bound  up  in  the  great  advantage  of  the  defendant,  armed, 
as  he  is,  with  a  just  cause.  Every  element  in  nature  is 
constantly  conspiring  that  justice  may  prevail.  Wrong 
is  deformed  in  its  every  part;  it  is  unnatural,  and  no  or- 


AND  THE  PIONEER  239 

dinary  condition  will  fit  its  ungainly  form;  everything 
must  be  made  to  order  for  it.  It  is  stoop-shouldered,  bow- 
legged,  pigeon-toed,  hump-backed,  and  all  of  its  paths  are 
devious  and  all  kinds  of  pitfalls  are  open  for  its  undoing. 
If  you  will  devote  yourself  to  this  cause  and  allow  it 
to  inspire  you,  you  can,  you  must  win.  Will  you  do  it?" 

"Yes.  You  have  already  inspired  me  to  action.  I 
shall  put  in  every  spare  moment  from  now  until  court 
time  on  an  attempted  verification  of  your  presentiment" 

"Then,  wrong  is  defeated.  Mr.  Gay  lord  will  suc- 
ceed, avarice  will  die  in  the  pit.  The  paths  of  justice 
are  so  straight,  level,  and  smooth,  that  you  will  have  a 
pleasant  journey,  compared  with  the  thief's  dark  and  zig- 
zag trail  that  the  plaintiff  must  follow.  He  will  get  off 
somewhere  and  lose  his  way  and  go  over  a  precipice  to 
destruction." 

The  next  morning  the  Pilgrim  got  up  early  and 
secured  the  transcript  of  the  judgment  upon  which  suit 
was  brought.  He  had  upon  his  shelves  United  States  di- 
gests, giving  a  synopsis  of  every  decision  of  the  courts  of 
record  in  every  state  in  the  union.  He  began 
with  volume,  one  and  examined  every  decision  in  every 
state  in  the  union,  on  suits  brought  on  judgments  rendered 
in  foreign  states,  and  compared  the  decisions  from  time 
to  time  with  the  transcript  of  the  judgment  in  this  case. 
When  he  had  finished  he  had  briefed  two  defects  in  the 
transcript,  each  of  which  these  decisions  adjudged  fatal. 

The  first  defect  found  in  the  transcript  was  that  it 
was  signed  by  a  "deputy  clerk."  A  line  of  decisions  from 
highest  court  of  New  York,  held  that  these  records  of 
sister  states  were  made  admissible  in  evidence  by  United 
States  enactment  in  1792,  "when  properly  certified  by  the 
clerk  of  the  court  in  which  the  judgment  was  rendered," 


240  THE  PILGRIM 

and  the  courts  held  that  the  state  statute  providing  for  a 
deputy,  would  not  make  a  certificate  signed  by  the  deputy 
admissible  under  this  U.  S.  act. 

The  second  fatal  point  was  that  the  transcript  as 
first  sent,  was  found  by  the  attorneys  to  be  defective,  and 
they  had  ordered  an  additional  record,  without  sending 
back  the  part  they  had,  having  one  certificate  and  one 
record  only. 

Mr.  Campbell  had  found  a  decision  holding  that  if 
the  record  was  not  a  complete  whole,  with  a  single  cer- 
tificate showing  it  complete,  it  could  not  be  used.  He 
was  so  happily  surprised  at  finding  these  two  supposedly 
fatal  defects  in  the  transcripts  that  he  would  not  even  im- 
part the  information  to  Mr.  Wickham  until  he  had  pledged 
him  to  keep  it  secret  from  Mr.  Gaylord. 

Mr.  Campbell  filed  in  court  a  formal  denial  of  any 
such  judgment  or  record,  sent  to  Denver  and  got  the  re- 
ported cases  sustaining  his  contentions,  and  when  the  court 
convened  and  the  case  was  called,  he  carelessly  sat  dumb 
until  after  Messrs.  Denton  &  Gunning  said  they  were 
ready  for  trial.  "Then,"  said  Mr.  Campbell,  in  an  un- 
.  concerned  manner,  aYou  may  proceed  to  prove  up  before 
the  court." 

The  plaintiff's  counsel  read  the  complaint  and  stated 
their  case,  then  started  to  introduce  the  record  of  the 
judgment. 

"Hold  on,"  quietly  said  the  Pilgrim-,  "we  shall 
interpose  some  objections  to  that  transcript.  Our  first 
objection  is  that  there  are  two  transcripts  here,  or  two 
parts  of  one  transcript,  when  the  law  provides  for  one 
transcript  with  a  certificate  showing  that  it  is  full  and 
complete. 

"The  second  objection  is  that  the  certificates  are  made 


AND  THE  PIONEER  241 

by  a  'deputy  clerk/  an  officer  not  recognized  by  the  act  of 
Congress,  under  which  a  record  in  one  state  is  admitted 
in  another  state." 

He  then  produced  the  decisions  supporting  his  con- 
tentions. 

The  plaintiff's  counsel  pleaded  and  appealed  to  the 
court  that  they  might  introduce  a  transcript,  or  continue 
the  case  and  withdraw  and  amend  the  first  transcript,  but 
the  court  said  "no,"  and  rendered  a  judgment  for  the 
defendant,  then  took  a  recess  until  two  o'clock  P.  M. 

Mr.  Trenton,  the  noted  attorney  who  said  he  could 
not  win  the  case,  Mr.  Gaylord,  the  defendant,  and  Mr. 
Wickham,  jumped  to  their  feet  and  showered  their  con- 
gratulations upon  Mr.  Campbell.  The  defendant  wrung 
his  hands  and  cried  like  an  over- joyed  woman. 

Mr.  Trenton  said: 

"Mr.  Gaylord,  I  want  to  tell  you  that  you  owe  much 
to  Mr.  Campbell.  There  is  not  another  member  of  this 
bar  that  would  have  relieved  you  of  this  burden.  I  do 
not  know  that  his  law  points  are  well  taken,  but  he  has 
put  them  in  so  plausible  a  condition  that  neither  plaintiff 
nor  court  can  controvert  them,  and  they  have  relieved 
you.  This  is  one  of  the  advantages  of  hiring  a  young 
member  of  the  bar;  he  is  full  of  hope  and  ambition  and 
has  unlimited  time  to  devote  to  his  cases,  while  older  mem- 
bers rely  upon  general  principles  and  have  such  little  time 
to  devote  to  any  one  case  that  they  often  make  fatal  mis- 
takes as  I  seem  to  have  done  in  this  case." 

The  Judge  then  came  around  and  publicly  congrat- 
ulated the  Pilgrim,  and  the  defendant  invited  all  hands 
to  lunch  with  him  as  a  fit  celebration  of  his  victory. 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  the  successful  handling  of 
this  supposedly  untenable  defense  gave  Mr.  Campbell  an 

THE  PILGRIM.— 16 


242  THE  PILGRIM 

enviable  position  at  the  bar  in  Lake  City,  in  the  minds  of 
the  people,  in  the  estimation  of  the  bar,  and  in  the  judg- 
ment of  the  court ;  but  this  pleasing  and  valuable  achieve- 
ment was  insignificant  when  compared  with  the  indelible 
impression  and  conviction  that  the  causes  leading  up  to 
this  signal  victory  left  upon  his  mind.  From  that  event- 
ful day  he  has  ever  believed  that  no  just  cause  is  hope- 
less, and  has  ever  refused  to  tell  a  litigant  that  he  can  not 
win  if  justice  is  on  his  side,  but  has  gone  upon  the 
theory  that,  with  a  just  cause,  all  other  needful  things  will 
be  added  and  that  however  clear  the  way  may  seem  for 
an  unjust  cause,  at  some  point  in  its  depraved  journey  its 
despicable  deformity  will  expose  itself  and  yield  the  right- 
of-way  to  justice;  it  was  also  indelibly  impressed  upon 
his  mind  that  nothing  is  free  in  this  world,  but  that  all 
success  must  be  purchased  through  persistent,  determined 
and  systematic  work;  that  eternal  vigilance  is  the  price 
of  success ;  and  that  when  such  vigilance  and  a  robust  in- 
dustry are  coupled  to  a  just  cause,  injustice  is  speedily 
driven  to  the  jungles. 

There  never  was  a  fairer,  more  beautiful,  or  logical, 
practical  test  of  what  the  Pioneer  eloquently  called  the 
"Holy  Creed  of  Blessed  Optimism,"  than  in  this  case. 
This  lesson  was  the  Shibboleth  of  whatever  success  Mr. 
Campbell  made  at  the  bar. 

General  Deering  remarked  to  Mr.  Wickham :  "Your 
friend  Campbell  is  the  best  lawyer  I  ever  saw  to  be  so 
consummate  a  tender-foot." 

The  Pioneer  replied:  "The  two  traits  quite  natur- 
ally go  together.  It  is  the  biggest  banker  that  buys  the 
gold  brick;  it  is  the  best  lawyer  that  the  shyster  always 
beats  in  a  business  transaction.  The  best  are  always  so 
wedded  to  their  callings  that  they  have  never  had  time  to 


AND  THE  PIONEER  243 

see  the  world,  and  are  always  tender-feet.  I  am  going  to 
take  Campbell  with  me  to  the  frontier  for  a  wild  and 
exciting  trip  that  I  think  will  harden  up  his  feet  a  little." 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

SHIFTING  SCENES  IN  A  PIONEER  TOWN. 

A  new  mining-camp  is  impregnated  with  optimism, 
every  one  thriving  on  the  hope  that  he  will  soon  uncover 
a  fortune.  Many  miners  are  what  is  called  in  mining 
vernacular,  "grub-staked;"  that  is,  they  are  furnished 
with  provisions  and  tools  by  friends  who  are  to  share 
with  them  equally  in  whatever  of  value  they  may  dis- 
cover. 

Now  and  then  a  person  who  never  had  a  hundred 
dollars  at  one  time,  uncovers  a  mine  worth  a  hundred 
thousand  dollars  or  more.  This  transition  from  abject 
poverty  to  opulence  is  very  trying  on  the  nervous  system, 
and  some  times  the  mental  equilibrium  of  the  successful 
one  gives  way  under  the  strain,  especially  when  the 
discovery  is  made  by  the  newcomer,  or  what  is  known 
in  mining  parlance  as  the  tender-foot.  Quite  often  the 
discovery  is  made  by  mere  accident.  One  claim  here, 
which  sold  for  more  than  a  hundred  thousand  dollars, 
was  discovered  by  an  Irishman  falling  over  a  cliff  and 
kicking  off  a  piece  of  the  brilliant  silver-bearing  rock,  and 
another  that  was  sold  equally  high  was  discovered  by  a 
little  boy  shooting  at  a  jack-rabbit  while  it  was  sitting 
near  a  crag, — going  up  to  where  his  bullet  struck  he 
found  he  had  chipped  off  a  piece  of  glittering  gold;  and 
similar  incidents  are  reported  from  all  the  principal 
camps. 

The  miners  used  to  have  a  suspicion  that  assayers 
gave  greater  returns  than  their  ore  justified,  and  often 

(245) 


246  THE  PILGRIM 

believed  that  assayers  made  at  times  what  was  known  as 
"wood-box"  assays — that  is,  they  thought  they  sometimes 
threw  the  ore  into  the  wood-box  without  running  it 
through  the  "fiery  furnace,"  then  wrote  up  a  certificate  for 
their  patrons  from  a  mere  estimate.  To  catch  the  as- 
sayers, miners  often  take  a  piece  of  jug,  a  piece  of  a  brick 
or  like  non-mineral  bearing  material,  grind  it  to  a  powder, 
and  take  it  to  the  assayer.  If  he  finds  nothing  in  this 
material  his  reputation  is  established ;  if  he  finds  that  it 
carries  values,  it  is  demonstrated  that  he  is  a  "wood-box" 
assayer.  It  is  reported  in  one  case  that  a  miner  took  a 
piece  of  grind  stone,  powdered,  to  a  new  assayer  and  that 
the  latter  returned  a  value  in  gold  of  ten  dollars  per  ton. 
The  miners  denounced  him  as  a  "wood-box"  assayer.  The 
assayer  then  made  them  show  up  the  other  part  of  the 
grind-stone.  This  leader  enabled  him  to  trace  it  to  the 
quarry.  He  went  there  and  bought  the  quarry  and  con- 
verted it  into  a  great  gold  mine  instead  of  a  grindstone 
quarry.  His  was  a  genuine  and  not  a  "wood-box"  assay. 

During  the  early  days  of  Lake  City,  Mr.  Merrill,  a 
handsome  young  engineer  and  assayer,  very  poor,  sold 
a  claim  for  a  net  profit  of  $10,000.  He  could  not  under- 
stand how  one  man  could  ever  spend  so  much  money,  and 
besides,  he  supposed  he  would  make  such  a  sale  every  few 
months.  This  impression  is  common  to  all  of  the  so-called 
"tender-feet,"  hence  they  usually  run  through  with  the 
results  of  the  first  sale  and  never  make  a  second  one ;  and 
Mr.  Merrill  was  not  an  exception  to  the  rule. 

He  immediately  made  a  trip  to  "New  York,  sent  in 
a  handsome  double-seated  sleigh,  a  harness,  and  a  two- 
seated  spring-wagon,  and  had  the  stage  agent  at  Lake  City 
select  him  a  handsome  pair  of  trotters;  he  brought  back 
with  him  an  old  colored  man,  noted  for  nothing  but  his 


AND  THE  PIONEER  247 

utter  ignorance  of  country  life,  and  the  fact  that  at  one 
time  he  had  served  the  Vanderbilts. 

A  great  snow  avalanche  had  come  down  from  the 
mountain  heights  to  Henson  Creek  bottoms,  south  of  the 
Die  mine,  and  crowds  were  hurrying  to  see  the  results.  Mr. 
Merrill  drove  up  to  the  office  in  his  handsome  sleigh  and 
invited  the  Pilgrim  and  the  Pioneer  to  accompany  him 
to  the  slide.  Mr.  Campbell  got  in  the  front  seat  with  Mr. 
Merrill,  and  Mr.  Wickham  into  the  rear  seat  with  the 
old  colored  man.  They  drove  up  the  canon  to  Henson 
Creek,  where  the  precipitous  cliffs  extended  thousands  of 
feet  above  them  on  either  side.  Every  one  was  quiet  for 
a  few  moments,  then  the  colored  man  inquired:  "Boss, 
coming  through  de  South  park  de  udder  day  we  seed  som- 
ting  bigger  den  a  deer  but  not  so  big  as  a  hoss,  what  does 
you  spose  it  were  ?" 

Mr.  Wickham  suggested  that  it  was  probably  a  chip- 
munk. Those  on  the  front  seat  tittered,  but  the  colored 
man  looked  astonished.  Promiscuous  talk  engaged  the 
party  until  they  ran  up  by  the  side  of  the  high  cliff  near 
the  Mountain  Lion  mine;  just  opposite  in  a  little  cove 
in  the  cliff  on  the  other  side  of  the  creek,  were  heapQd 
up  millions  of  tons  of  small,  thin,  smooth  shale  rock, 
weighing  about  four  ounces  each,  which  had  been  crumb- 
ling from  the  cliffs  and  trickling  down  a  little  ravine  for 
ages.  The  colored  man  stretched  his  neck,  and  looking  at 
the  steep  mountains  running  up  thousands  of  feet  above 
them  on  either  side,  said :  "My  gracious,  boss,  Fse  always 
hearn  dat  dis  wus  a  great  cattle  country,  but  Fde  like  tu 
know  what  dey  eats  ?" 

Mr.  Wickham  answered:  "Do  you  see  that  green 
moss  on  the  shale  rock  in  that  great  pile  in  that  little 
cove  ?" 


248  THE  PILGRIM 

"Yeas,  yeas,"  said  the  colored  man,  "I  sees  'em." 

"Well,  those  rocks  are  covered  with  a  fine,  green, 
salty  moss,  which  is  as  nutrious  as  buffalo  grass,  and 
probably  every  rock  in  that  huge  pile  has  at  one  time  or 
another  'rolled  as  a  sweet  morsel  under  the  tongue  of  some 
Colorado  bovine.' ' 

The  occupants  of  the  front  seat  giggled,  the  colored 
man  gaped,  scratched  his  head,  and  inquired:  "Where 
does  de  salt  comes  from,  boss?" 

"Oh,"  replied  Mr.  Wickham,  "it  was  pounded  into 
the  bed-rock  of  the  ocean  by  the  salty  billows  before  the 
rocky  bed  of  the  sea  was  belched  up  as  the  crests  of  these 
mighty  mountain  ranges."  The  colored  man  grunted  and 
the  gentlemen  on  the  front  seat  cackled  vigorously. 

The  colored  man  seemed  to  be  engaged  in  a  brown 
study  till  interrupted  by  the  whirr  of  machinery  and  the 
peal  of  the  blast  as  they  passed  over  the  famous  Ule 
mine,  when  he  quickly  roused  himself.  "Say,  boss,  just 
about  how  far  down  in  dese  here  mines  does  dey  go,  any- 
how ?" 

"Well,  this  is  a  new  camp  and  they  are  only  down 
about  1,500  feet  in  this  one,  but  in  the  Comstock  in  Ne- 
vada they  have  gone  through  the  earth,  and  take  out  a 
part  of  their  ore  on  the  American  side  and  part  on  the 
Chinese  side." 

For  the  first  time  on  the  trip  the  face  of  the  old  col- 
ored man  lighted  up,  a  twinkle  came  into  his  eye,  and  he 
leaned  over  close  to  the  Pioneer  and  in  a  low,  confiden- 
tial tone,  said,  "Say,  boss,  don't  you  'spect  de  Chinese 
immigration  will  come  tro  dat  ere  mine  after  dis?" 

Those  in  the  front  seat  threw  themselves  back  and 
ha-ha-ha'd  and  in  so  doing  pulled  the  horses  up  on  the  hill- 
side, the  sleigh  tipped  over,  and  all  of  the  occupants 


AND  THE  PIONEER  249 

rolled  down  the  steep  bank  into  Henson  Creek,  while  the 
horses  went  up  the  creek  at  a  breakneck  pace.  "No  one 
was  hurt,  however,  and  they  soon  found  the  horses  stuck 
in  a  snow-drift. 

The  slide  was  a  miraculous  sight.  The  snow  had 
fallen  four  or  five  feet  deep  on  a  steep,  smooth,  grassy 
mountain  side  near  the  top  of  the  range,  a  mile  above  a 
thick  forest  of  yellow  pine  and  green  hemlock  trees, 
which  stood  about  half  a  mile  above  the  bed  of  Henson 
Creek.  The  snow  on  the  high  range  began  melting  from 
the  bottom,  then  began  to  slide  on  the  slick  grass  covering 
a  steep  hillside,  constantly  gathering  weight  and  momen- 
tum until  by  the  time  it  struck  the  forest  it  was  a  body  of 
packed  ice  several  hundred  feet  wide  and  fifty  feet  high, 
going  with  the  velocity  of  a  meteor  rushing  through  the 
skies;  the  forest  yielded  to  it  as  helplessly  as  a  field  of 
wheat  does  to  a  McCormick  harvester,  and  thousands  of 
tons  of  trees  from  one  to  two  feet  through,  and  from  fifty 
to  one  hundred  feet  long,  were  literally  picked  up  on  the 
apron  of  the  slide  and  deposited  in  the  Henson  Creek  bot- 
toms. The  track  of  the  slide  presented  to  the  vision  the 
appearance  of  a  clean  and  unobstructed  roadway  with 
big  forest  trees  thickly  skirting  each  side  of  it.  The 
open  track  will  remain  for  ages  as  an  evidence  of  this 
mighty  avalanche  and  as  a  danger  signal  warning  travel- 
ers to  watch  out  for  slides  here  in  snowy  weather. 

Five  or  six  men  were  distributed  at  dif- 
ferent points  around  the  slide  chopping  cord  wood 
with  which  to  operate  the  machinery  of  the  Tile  mine, 
and  seemed  a  little  nervous  lest  others-  might  wish  to 
divide  this  ice-felled  forest  with  them.  They 
related  that  they  had  taken  a  contract  from  the  "Die 
company  to  deliver  2,500  cords  of  wood  and  had 


250  •  THE  PILGRIM 

been  cutting  and  sliding  logs  down  the  hill  all  the 
fall  at  a  loss,  and  if  they  could  hold  this  forest  they 
could  save  themselves.  They  said  they  had  been  worry- 
ing and  praying  that  something  might  turn  up  which 
would  enable  them  to  perform  this  contract  without  ab- 
solutely ruining  themselves  and  it  seems  their  prayers 
were  answered  if  no  one  interfered  with  them. 

The  colored  man  grunted,  "Um !  — —  — and 

you  just  put  your  faith  in  de  Lord  to  help  youens  out 
and  he  just  made  his  snow  fall  above  dat  big  forest,  den 
push  de  whole  ting  right  down  to  your  feet.  De  Lord 
am  a  powerful  helper  when  you  can  get  'im  on  yore 
side.  Say,  boss,  youens  not  gwine  to  pray  for  him  to  move 
any  more  forests  down  today,  is  youse  ?  Case  my  eyes  is  a 
little  sore  dis  morning,  and  I  don't  care  to  have  'em  splat- 
tered wid  de  snow,  anyhow." 

"Ah,"  retorted  one  of  the  men,  "if  you  had  been  in 
the  neighborhood  of  this  slide  when  it  struck  on  the 
opposite  bank  of  the  creek,  the  jar  would  have  put  you 
beyond  all  desire  for  earthly  vision.  It  shook  up  the 
buildings  down  at  the  Ule,  and  people  six  miles  away 
heard  the  crash." 

The  colored  man  slipped  around  to  Mr.  Merrill  and 
told  him  one  of  "de  horses'  legs  seemed  to  be  a  swell- 
ing," and  if  we  did  not  get  home  before  he  got  too  cold 
we  might  have  to  leave  him.  He  then  planted  himself 
in  the  front  seat,  took  a  hold  of  the  lines,  and  from  his 
driving  down  Henson  Creek  no  one  would  have  presumed 
that  any  maimed  horses  were  hitched  to  that  sleigh.  He 
became  homesick  for  New  York  and  never  would  consent 
to  go  into  the  mountains  again. 

When  the  Pilgrim  and  the  Pioneer  got  to  the  office 
after  viewing  the  avalanche,  Messrs.  Walker  and  Knight 


AND  THE  PIONEER  251 

approached   them   and   inquired:      "Do   you   gentlemen 
ever  dance?" 

"Sometimes,"  answered  Mr.  Wickham,  "but  we  have 
not  had  a  chance  in  this  camp." 

"Well,"  said  Mr.  Walker,  "we  are  on  the  invitation 
committee  of  'Every-one-a-partner  ball.'  Heretofore  a 
certain  number  of  young  fellows  have  attended  all  the 
balls  and  danced  with  every  one  else's  partner  most  gen- 
erously, but  have  never  troubled  themselves  to  take  a 
partner,  so  we  have  concluded  to  admit  no  one  this  even- 
ing without  one.  Mr.  Jayne,  who  was  to  take  Mrs.  Car- 
roll, a  buxom  young  widow,  and  Mr.  Carr,  who  was  to  ac- 
company the  beautiful  Miss  Lennox,  are  in  charge  of  the 
sheriff  as  jurors  in  a  murder  trial  and  the  Judge  will  not 
permit  them  to  attend;  the  ladies  have  sent  us  out  to 
hunt  them  partners  and  they,  as  well  as  we,  will  be  obliged 
to  you  if  you  will  take  them  to  the  ball  this  evening." 

"But,"  replied  the  Pilgrim,  "we  are  not  acquainted 
with  them." 

"We  are  here  to  take  you  over  and  introduce  you; 
which  one  will  you  have  ?" 

Mr.  Campbell  answered  that  he  was  inclined  to  timid- 
ity and  probably  the  widow  would  help  him  out  of  his 
embarrassment.  The  spokesman  invited  him  to  come  on, 
and  conducted  him  to  a  little  rough  log  cabin  of  one  room 
in  which  the  gushing  widow  was  ensconced  sur- 
rounded by  two  carpenter-made  stools,  a  little  carpenter- 
made  table,  a  carpenter-made  cot,  a  little  cook  stove,  a 
trunk,  and  a  big  dry  goods  box.  She  looked  very  pretty 
in  the  midst  of  these  rough  surroundings. 

Mr.  Walker  formally  introduced  Mr.  Campbell  and 
incidentally  told  Mrs.  Carroll  his  desire  to  escort  her  to 
the  ball,  for  which  she  expressed  much  gratitude  and 


THE  PILGRIM  WAITS  OUTSIDE. 


AND  THE  PIONEER  253 

greatly  relieved  the  Pilgrim's  embarrassment.  He  in- 
formed her  that  he  should  return  at  8:30  and  bade  her 
good-bye  until  that  time. 

Promptly  at  8 :30  he  knocked  on  the  door  of  the  log 
cabin  and  said,  "It  is  Mr.  Campbell."  She  answered,  "I 
beg  your  pardon,  but  I  have  had  company  and  have  just 
begun  dressing;  would  you  mind  waiting  for  me  a  few 
minutes?"  He  replied,  "Certainly  not." 

The  snow  was  six  inches  deep  and  there  was  not 
even  a  door  step  to  sit  on,  but  there  was  a  pine  stump  near 
by.  He  brushed  the  snow  from  this  and  shivered  in  the 
frosted  air  while  his  partner  dressed. 

In  about  twenty  minutes  she  opened  the  door  a 
couple  of  inches  and  asked  him  if  he  had  any  pins.  She 
had  just  discovered  that  she  had  not  pins  enough  to  finish 
her  toilet.  "No,  but  don't  worry,"  he  said,  "I  will  step 
up  to  the  store  and  get  some." 

On  his  return  she  soon  pinned  her  clothes  and  they 
went  hurriedly  into  the  hall  just  as  the  dancers  were  being 
formed  for  the  grand  march.  Neither  of  them  had  ever 
appeared  in  Lake  City  society  before,  and  as  she  was  both 
handsome  and  handsomely  dressed  she  created  quite  a 
sensation,  for  women  were  not  numerous,  there  being 
in  Lake  City  about  fifty  men  to  every  woman. 

Many  men  had  on  their  blue  flannel  shirts,  nail  bot- 
tom mining  boots,  and  usual  working  clothes,  because  at 
this  early  day  they  had  brought  no  society  clothes  with 
them;  but  they  were  very  intelligent,  splendidly  behaved, 
and  good  dancers,  and  many  of  them  were  graduates  of 
Yale,  Harvard,  and  other  leading  colleges. 

Many  of  the  women  had  enjoyed  equal  educational 
and  social  advantages  and  they  appeared  better  than  the 


254  THE  PILGRIM 

men,  because  most  of  them  had  brought  some  good  clothes 
into  the  pioneer  mining-camp. 

Among  the  first  persons  to  challenge  the  attention 
of  the  Pilgrim  and  the  Pioneer  were  the  young  engineer 
and  the  colored  man  in  full  dress  suits,  the  colored  man 
coming  along  merely  to  assist  his  "boss"  in  taking  off  and 
putting  on  his  overcoat  and  guarding  his  coat,  hat,  and 
cane.  This  proverbial  dress  of  the  Eastern  ball  room 
seemed  as  much  out  of  place  in  the  new  mining-camp  as 
the  possessor  would  have  been  if  dressed  in  a  Chinese 
costume,  and  it  was  the  butt  of  all  jokes  during  the  evening. 
Even  the  handsomely  dressed  ladies  sneered  at  the  assump- 
tion of  this  ostentatious  dressing  where  it  was  known  that 
the  men  generally  had  only  their  working  clothes  there. 

In  these  mining-camps  of  the  West,  the  people  have 
always  kept  closely  up  with  the  dress  and  social  fashions 
of  the  East  so  far  as  knowing  the  fashions  and  prevail- 
ing styles,  but  never  adopted  them  in  pioneer  times. 
This  knowledge  probably  comes  from  the  constant  coming 
and  going  of  the  mining-men  between  the  mines  and  the 
Eastern  centers  of  population.  Here  was  a  complete 
social  democracy;  there  were  no  cliques,  no  special  sets, 
no  classes  or  castes,  but  every  one  who  demeaned  himself 
becomingly  was  the  social  equal  of  every  other  person, 
and  it  made  the  most  harmonious  social  condition.  The 
banker  or  the  Judge  would  not  think  of  neglecting  to 
ask  his  servant  girl  for  a  dance  and  would  treat  her  with 
as  much  gallant  courtesy  as  he  did  the  daughter  of  his  com- 
petitor in  business;  the  most  well-to-do  and  aristocratic 
boarder  at  the  hotel  would  not  think  of  neglecting  to  ask  the 
girl  who  waited  on  his  table  for  a  dance,  and  never  failed 
to  treat  her  with  respect. 

The  widow  was  in  great  demand  and  her  program 


AND  THE  PIONEER  256 

was  always  crowded  with  the  names  of  anxious  dancers. 
Everyone  was  constantly  complimenting  Mr.  Campbell 
on  having  the  belle  of  the  ball. 

At  three  o'clock  the  next  morning  the  partners  were 
called  for  "Home,  Sweet  Home."  Mr.  Campbell  took  the 
widow  on  his  arm  in  an  ecstatic  mood  at  the  thought  that 
his  partner  was  the  acknowledged  belle  of  the  ball,  and 
felt  very  much  flattered  by  the  impression  her  debut  had 
made  in  Lake  City  society.  They  got  into  a  very  lively 
set  at  the  head  of  the  hall,  when  suddenly,  without  warn- 
ing, while  every  one  was  aglow  with  life  and  good  cheer, 
the  widow  dropped  to  the  floor  in  an  epileptic  fit.  The 
music  ceased,  every  one  hurried  to  the  scene,  an  intimate 
lady  friend  of  the  unfortunate  one  pushed  Mr.  Campbell 
to  a  sitting  posture,  placed  the  sick  woman's  head  on  his 
lap,  forced  her  handkerchief  into  her  mouth,  called  for 
water  and  began  bathing  her  temples.  Some  one  proposed 
going  for  a  doctor  but  she  said,  "No,  in  an  epileptic  fit  all 
you  can  do  is  to  keep  the  patient  in  a  horizontal  position 
on  the  back  with  the  head  just  high  enough  to  prevent 
bruises  from  pounding  the  floor,  and  a  handkerchief  in  the 
mouth  to  prevent  the  biting  of  the  tongue,  and  to  check 
excitement  by  bathing  the  temples." 

The  dance  prematurely  closed  and  every  one  quietly 
went  home,  sad  hearted  from  the  unexpected  gloom  cast 
over  the  interrupted  pleasures  of  the  evening. 

Mr.  Campbell  had  never  witnessed  such  a  scene  be- 
fore. He  thought  that  if  his  partner  lived  to  get  home 
she  would  surely  die  soon  afterward.  The  snow  was  up  to 
his  boot  tops,  .but  he  treked  her  at  a  double  quick  pace 
to  her  door,  bowed,  said  good  night  and  fairly  ran  to  his 
room.  Mr.  Wickham  arose,  and  looking  at  him  in  as- 


256  THE  PILGRIM 

tonishment,  inquired:  "What  is  the  matter  with  you? 
You  are  as  white  as  a  ghost  and  seem  completely  winded." 

"Oh,"  answered  the  Pilgrim,  "this  insane  civiliza- 
tion would  soon  prepare  me  for  a  mad-house.  This  ordeal 
was  really  more  trying  on  the  nerves  than  that  of  the 
Mexican  fandango.  This  is  my  last  dance  in  this  giddy 
land  of  chance."  He  took  a  long  breath^  then  broke  out 
again,  "Oh,  those  horrible  contortions  of  her  beautiful 
face,  the  pallor  of  her  former  rosy  cheeks,  the  deathly 
white  in  her  soft,  blue  eyes,  and  hydrophobic- 
like  froth  coming  out  of  her  clean-cut  lips,  will  be  staring 
me  in  the  face  for  years  to  come " 

"Tut,  tut,  tut,"  said  the  Pioneer,  "don't  be  hyper- 
critical. Don't  make  yourself  believe  that  two  accidental 
occurrences  at  the  beginning  of  your  entry  into  society  are 
the  general  order  of  things.  We  had  a  nice  democratic 
ball  this  evening.  There  were  no  classes  or  cliques,  every- 
body stood  on  a  common  level;  and  such  is  the  natural 
social  order.  These  little  equal  social  recognitions  of 
those  of  lower  stations  in  life  are  great  moral  stimuli. 
The  recipients  are  encouraged  to  try  to  merit  these  unusual 
courtesies.  I  attended  these  informal  meetings  during  all  of 
my  stay  in  Gregory  Gulch,  and  many  of  those  who  par- 
ticipated in  those  democratic  gatherings  have  since  become 
wealthy  and  now  belong  to  the  smart  set  of  the  cities. 
They  frequently  refer  to  those  gatherings  as  the  most 
pleasurable  social  events  of  their  lives.  It  is  to  be  hoped 
that  you  will  not  become  discouraged  and  neglect  these 
important  social  functions." 

"Well,"  retorted  Mr.  Campbell,  "it  may  be  the  nat- 
ural order  of  things  to  have  passes  made  at  your  jugular 
with  a  butcher  knife,  or  to  have  fair  women  lie  upon  your 
lap  and  entertain  you  with  epileptic  fits,  but  you'll  excuse 


AND  THE  PIONEER  257 

me  if  I  frankly  admit  that  I  prefer  a  little  more  artificial 
formality  in  my  social  intercourse." 

The  young  engineer  was  soon  at  his  rope's  end,  and 
disposed  of  his  remnants,  even  to  his  watch,  for  the  ne- 
cessary means  with  which  to  transport  the  colored  man  and 
himself  back  to  New  York,  never  to  return. 


THE  PILGRIM.— 17 


Miss  ANTHONY  ADDRESSING  THE  MINERS. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

WESTERN  CIVILIZATION  EXALTS  WOMEN. 

One  evening  about  dusk  in  1876  Susan  B.  Anthony, 
dusty  and  careworn,  came  riding  into  Lake  City,  astride 
a  horse,  and  invited  the  people  to  congregate  in  front 
of  the  court  house  that  evening  and  hear  her  discuss  the 
desirability  of  providing  for  female  suffrage  in  the  Colo- 
rado Constitution. 

The  Pioneer  suggested  to  the  Pilgrim  that  they 
walk  down  and  hear  what  cogent  reasons,  if  any,  she 
could  give  for  this  desired  innovation. 

The  Pilgrim  said  that  he  despised  the  appearance 
of  any  woman  on  the  public  rostrum  and  as  to  women 
mixing  up  in  political  affairs,  that  would  simply  destroy 
the  home  and  much  happiness  of  both  sexes;  he  said  he 
did  not  care  to  lend  such  a  despicable  movement  the  en- 
couragement of  his  presence. 

The  Pioneer  answered:  "I  have  placed  the  unpar- 
donable curse  of  inexorable  barbarism  on  six  of  her  sex, 
which  must  inevitably  reduce  my  branch  of  my  father's 
house  to  an  invidious  inferiority  for  fifty  generations.  I 
am  now  doing  penance  for  my  iniquity,  at  the  feet  of 
womanhood  everywhere.  I  shall  go  and  carefully  listen  to 
and  impartially  judge  her  argument.  I  have  long  since 
learned  that  we  are  all  slaves  to  habit;  if  we  had  in  the 
past  seen  women  alone  on  the  rostrum  and  voting  at  the 
polls,  might  we  not  now  think  these  were  light  duties 
beneath  the  sturdy  dignity  of  men,  and  might  we  not 
be  as  much  prejudiced  against  observing  a  man  on  a 

(259) 


260  THE  PILGRIM 

speaker's  platform  or  voting,  as  we  are  now  against 
ing  them  washing  the  dishes  or  caring  for  the  baby? 
An  English  General  serving  in  British  India  says  that 
at  a  great  state  affair,  there,  he  saw  some  high  caste 
English  women  with  their  faces  bare  and  the  remainder 
of  their  persons  securely  clad,  meet  some  high  caste  In- 
dian women  with  their  faces  and  bodies  securely  clad  but 
with  their  legs  bare,  and  overheard  an  English  woman 
say  how  vulgar  it  is  for  'these  Indian  women  to  expose 
their  naked  legs  in  the  presence  of  all  these  gaping 
men/  and  soon  afterwards  he  heard  one  of  the  Indian 
women  say,  'How  indecent  for  these  English  women  to 
expose  their  vulgar  faces  before  all  of  these  horrible 
men.'  Each  class  was  equally  modest,  but  each  from  a 
sheer  force  of  habit  believed  the  other  grossly  immodest. 
Each  class  was  a  slave  to  Master  Habit." 

.  The  Pilgrim  and  the  Pioneer  went  down  and 
heard  Miss  Anthony  make  a  remarkable  speech  in  behalf 
of  democracy  and  in  behalf  of  the  equal  and  natural 
rights  of  the  sexes. 

Miss  Anthony  began  by  saying  that  she  taught  school 
in  the  state  of  New  York  during  fifteen  years  of  her 
young  womanhood,  and  was  credited  by  the  school  super- 
intendent with  having  the  best  school  and  the  best  taught 
scholars  under  his  jurisdiction,  and  yet  the  school  author- 
ities persisted  in  paying  her  but  $8  per  month  while  pay- 
ing the  less  efficient  male  teachers  $24  per  month,  a 
premium  of  $16  per  month  on  the  mere  accident  of  sex. 
This  flagrant  injustice  burned  into  her  insulted  woman- 
hood and  drove  her  into  a  general  investigation  of  the 
equality  of  the  sexes  before  the  laws  of  her  country.  She 
found  that  these  men-made  laws  had  drawn  most  invid- 
ious and  barbarous  distinctions  between  the  personal,  prop- 


AND  THE  PIONEER  261 

erty,  and  political  rights  of  the  sexes;  that  women  were 
degraded  and  ostracised  politically  and  that  they  were  not 
even  given  dominion  over  themselves  in  the  family  circle; 
that  they  must  be  felt  and  seen,  when  their  property 
rights  were  at  issue,  through  husbands  who  were  often 
both  mentally  and  morally  their  inferiors;  that  such  laws 
permitted  degraded,  debauched,  and  overbearing  hus- 
bands; as  a  matter  of  legal  right,  to  humiliate,  impoverish, 
and  reduce  to  squalor,  refined  and  intelligent  women  who 
had  inherited  a  competency,  but  had  lost,  by  marriage, 
the  right  to  manage  or  control  it.  She  denounced  such 
laws  as  a  brutal  invasion  of  natural  rights  and  made  a 
powerful  appeal  to  the  hardy,  just-minded  pioneers,  ask- 
ing that,  in  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  new  state, 
they  award  to  women  a  legal  right  to  own  and  control 
themselves,  their  property,  their  labor;  and  that  they  be 
given  the  right  of  franchise  that  they  might  have  a  voice 
in  making  the  laws  which  should  govern  them  and  their 
property.  She  said  it  was  thoughtlessly  cruel  in  the  good 
and  just  men  of  the  state  who  always  dealt  equitably 
with  women,  to  withhold  from  them  the  legal  right  to 
protect  themselves,  their  children,  and  their  property 
from  a  depraved  class  of  men  who  were  slaves  to  selfish 
appetites  and  respected  the  rights  of  neither  men  nor 
women. 

She  said :  "Woman  will  be  ruled  by  man  as  long  as 
man  holds  the  purse  strings.  Man  will  rule — will  set 
her  standard  of  morals  and  his  own  as  well.  If  woman 
has  equal  wealth  and  equal  independence,  she  will  be 
another  individual.  The  police,  the  soldiery,  the  wives 
and  all  mendicants  have  their  actions,  thoughts,  and  moral 
codes  made  by  the  pay-masters.  Man  makes  an  ideal 
moral  code  for  his  wife  and  a  very  low  one  for  him- 


262  THE  PILGRIM 

self.  If  his  daughter  or  wife  doesn't  keep  her  head 
toward  the  sky-line,  the  purse  strings  are  tightened.  A  bril- 
liant woman — doctor,  lawyer,  minister,  or  lecturer — can 
not  command  the  same  fees  as  the  medium  male.  She  is 
dwarfed  with  discouragement  wherever  she  casts  her  eyes. 
The  male  says  she  is  the  uncrowned  queen  of  the  home, 
that  this  is  her  kingdom;  yet  she  is  not  mistress  of  the 
home — the  title  remains  in  the  master,  and  if  he  is  dis- 
pleased the  children  can  be  wrested  from  her  arms  and 
she  can  be  evicted.  What  inhumanity  of  man  to  woman." 

When  she  had  finished  an  acre  of  bronzed-faced 
miners  sent  up  a  shout  of  applause  and  said,  "You  are 
quite  right,  my  good  lady;  we  shall  stand  behind  you  until 
full  justice  is  done  to  your  sex  in  Colorado."  And  they 
kept  their  word. 

After  the  Pilgrim  and  the  Pioneer  reached  home, 
the  latter  inquired :  "Mr.  Campbell,  what  do  you  really 
think  of  woman  suffrage  by  this  time  ?" 

"She  certainly  made  out  a  much  stronger  case 
against  us  than  I  supposed  existed.  I  was, 
in  a  general  way,  familiar  with  the  unusual  ad- 
vantage in  the  laws  in  favor  of  men,  but  did  not  suppose 
they  ever  took  advantage  of  their  sisters;  but  there  seems 
to  be  much  in  her  complaint  that  the  good  men  who 
always  adequately  protect  the  interest  of  their  women, 
have  been  negligent  in  allowing  legal  privileges  to  de- 
praved men  for  the  abuse  of  their  women.  She  correctly 
says  that  giving  women  equal  personal,  property,  and  po- 
litical rights,  would  not  encroach  on  the  habits  and  cus- 
toms of  good  men,  who  have  ever  been  just  to  women, 
regardless  of  the  law,  but  would  enable  them  to  protect 
themselves  against  the  depraved  and  profligate  men  who 
abuse  and  impoverish  them  and  their  children.  However, 


AND  THE  PIONEER  263 

a  majority  of  the  good  women  do  not  want  to  vote.    Would 
you  force  an  unwilling  franchise  upon  them  ?" 

"Ah,  it  is  a  sagacious  teacher  that  gives  his  pupils 
what  they  need  rather  than  what  they  want.  You  keep 
a  bird  in  a  cage  from  the  time  it  hatches  for  a  year  or 
so,  then  turn  it  out,  and  it  will  fly  around  and  back  to  the 
cage.  It  has  an  aching  void,  but  does  not  know  what  will 
fill  it.  It  does  not  know  what  liberty  is.  If  it  stays  away 
from  the  cage  for  twenty-four  hours  and  gets  a  real  taste 
of  liberty  you  can  not  cage  it  any  more.  The  lifelong 
slave  does  not  know  what  liberty  is.  You  speak  of  it  and 
he  becomes  alarmed,  but  give  him  a  real  taste  of  it  and 
he  will  die  in  its  defense.  In  the  age  of  physical  prowess 
and  strength,  frail  women  could  not  cope  with  the  male 
athlete  or  giant,  and  were  a  kind  of  beast  of  burden; 
they  were  very  thankful  for  being  permitted  to  live  at 
all,  as  their  first  appearance  was  generally  a  matter  of 
sore  regret  to  their  progenitors  and  they  frequently  were 
destroyed  by  parents  in  infancy  because  of  their  unfor- 
tunate sex.  Timid  women  are  just  now  getting  a  glimpse 
of  their  natural,  equal,  personal,  property,  and  political 
rights,  and  like  the  birds  and  slaves  when  they  get  a 
clear  view  and  a  fair  taste  of  their  just  dues  they  will 
wage  an  unrelenting  war,  if  need  be,  in  their  defense." 

Mr.  Campbell  replied  that  he  was  very  glad  that 
he  went  out  to  hear  Miss  Anthony  because  she  had  given 
him  much  light  upon  the  question,  and  had  caused  him  to 
feel  quite  differently  about  the  subject. 

"Yes,"  answered  Mr.  Wickham,  "the  greatest  obstruc- 
tion to  human  progress  is  human  prejudice,  and  the 
greatest  security  for  fundamental  errors  is  the  unwill- 
ingness of  the  people  to  hear  the  truth. 


264  THE  PILGRIM 

"You  may  safely  and  profitably  carry  these  maxims 
through  life  with  you: 

"Never  dispute,  or  play  at,  another  man's  game  until 
you  thoroughly  understand  it. 

"Never  take  the  tenets  of  another's  faith  from  an 
enemy  of  his  creed. 

"Never  decide  a  question  until  you  have  thoroughly 
considered  both  sides,  and  never  assume  that  any  great 
question  is  wholly  one-sided. 

"Always  measure  another's  corn  in  your  own  half 
bushel. 

"Adopt  the  Golden,  Rule  as  your  measuring  stick 
in  all  political  and  sex  questions  as  well  as  in  social  and 
business  questions,  among  men. 

"Keep  imperious  reason  ever  upon  the  throne,  un- 
fettered, and  never  permit  insinuating  fancy  or  prejudices, 
incidents  to  old  traditions,  sacred  forms,  sage  creeds,  or 
aged  societies, .  to  usurp  her  God-like  functions. 

"If  you  should  study  the  natural,  personal,  property, 
and  political  rights  of  women,  independent  of  the  po- 
sition they  have  heretofore  occupied,  you  would  probably 
reach  a  different  conclusion  than  is  approved  by  our 
present  practices  and  general  laws." 

"But,"  replied  the  Pilgrim,  "will  it  not  make  our 
women  rough,  uncouth,  and  less  womanly,  to  receive  all 
of  these  manly  privileges." 

"I  am  not  a  Yankee,  but  will  you  allow  me  to  inquire 
if  the  exaltation  of  womanhood  through  the  teachings  of 
Christ,  made  Christian  women  less  womanly  than  the 
pagan  women  ?  Did  the  advanced  position  the  Pilgrim 
fathers  extended  to  American  women,  make  them  less 
comely  or  womanly  than  their  more  restrained  European 
sisters?  The  logic  of  the  whole  subject  is  embodied  in 


AND  THE  PIONEER  265 

one  short  sentence:  'It  is  a  natural  right.'  It  is  not  per- 
tinent to  argue  that  this  suffrage  will  not  be  exercised 
always  for  the  public  good.  The  same  may  be  said  of 
many  men.  It  is  a  question  of  the  right  of  representa- 
tion. If  women  have  ideas  of  value  to  civilization  the 
ballot  is  the  most  effective  way  of  putting  them  in  force." 
Now,  in  the  new  states  of  Colorado,  Wyoming,  Utah 
and  Idaho,  women  have  practically  all  of  the  personal, 
property,  and  political  rights  that  the  men  enjoy,  and 
women  hold,  own,  control,  sell,  and  buy  property  as  freely 
as  their  husbands  do,  and  may  sue  or  be  sued  without 
any  reference  to  their  husbands,  and  may  even  sue  or  be 
sued  by  them  if  necessity  requires.  Women  in  these  states 
vote  for  every  officer  from  constable  to  president. 
What  has  wrought  this  beneficent  change?  It  is  a 
part  of  the  great  evolution  of  the  race  from  the  age  of 
the  physical  to  that  of  the  moral  and  intellectual  forces. 
Women  are  deficient  in  brute  force,  but  are  quite  efficient 
in  moral  and  intellectual  strength. 


CHAPTER  XXL 

EXPERT  HYPNOTIZED  BY  BACK-CAPPEK. 

Mr.  Wickham  went  into  the  M.  &  M.  bank  and 
told  the  cashier  that  he  was  expecting  an  expert  in  on  the 
coach  in  the  evening  to  examine  the  Kuklux  mine,  and 
all  the  fear  he  had  was  that,  as  every  "back-capper"  around 
town  had  a  dozen  prospects  for  sale,  if  they  got  at  the 
expert  they  would  block  all  his  own  prospects  of  a  sale. 

Mr.  Arnold,  the  cashier,  replied :  "Mr.  Wickham,  just 
take  possession  of  one  of  the  bed-rooms  upstairs.  Mr. 
Boyd  and  I  each  have  a  double  bed;  we  will  move  into 
one  room  and  you  can  entertain  your  expert  in  the  other 
and  keep  Henry  at  the  hall-door  and  bar  every  one  out 
until  you  have  made  your  sale  or  have  failed." 

"This  is  a  capital  idea,"  answered  Mr.  Wickham, 
"and  I  shall  accept  your  kind  offer."  He  at  once  set 
about  putting  the  room  in  order  and  storing  it  with 
all  necessary  comforts.  The  coach  came  rolling  in  about 
5 :30  P.  M.,  and  the  usual  crowd  was  at  the  stage  office 
to  see  who  came.  Some  women  and  children  and  a  few 
miners  climbed  out,  and  after  them  appeared  a  very  small 
and  extremely  slim  and  shriveled  up  individual,  with  his 
clothing  fitting  almost  as  tightly  as  his  contracted  hide, 
wearing  very  close-fitting  red  leggins,  and  with  some  scat- 
tering red  hairs  distributed  over  his  upper  jaws  as  a  pre- 
tense for  "sideburns."  This  personage  darted  through 
the  door  of  the  coach,  lightly  dropped  to  the  sidewalk, 
brought  himself  to  a  tension  attitude,  and  with  much  self- 
sufficiency  surveyed  the  crowd  and  waited  to  see  if  any 

(267) 


268  THE  PILGRIM 

one  would  claim  him.  Mr.  Wickham  stepped  forward, 
and  extended  his  hand,  saying,  "This  is  Prof.  E.  H,  Ham- 
ilton, I  presume?"  "Hit  his,"  replied  the  expert.  "Hain't 
hit  beastly  weather  though?"  Mr.  Wickham  took  his 
valises  and  extra  walking  canes  and  umbrellas  and  piloted 
him  up  to  the  rooms  over  the  bank. 

The  spotters  of  mining  investors  eyed  the  new  ar- 
rival critically  and  one  would  ask,  "What  has  Wickham 
to  sell?"  Another  would  say,  "I  wonder  whether  the 
expert  is  French,  English,  or  Irish?"  Another,  "I 
wonder  if  he  is  really  an  investor  or  a  machinist."  A 
droll  Irishman  remarked,  "Oi  would  jidge  the  srintlemin  is 
here  to  repair  the  Bille  of  the  Wist  pomps ;  at  least  this 
gintlemin  seems  to  be  made  and  drissed  so  ha  con  slip 
down  through  the  poipes  of  the  pomps  if  need  be." 

The  "back-cappers"  then  swarmed  into  the  room  of 
Mr.  Al.  Carlton,  the  stage  agent,  and  inquired,  "Who  is 
this?  what  is  his  business?  and  what  are  his  purposes 
here  ?"  The  stage  agent  became  very  much  irritated,  and 
in  a  recklessly  erratic  mood,  and  without  a  thought  of  an- 
noying Mr.  Wickham,  wrote  on  his  blackboard: 

"A  mine  investor  arrived  from  Ontario,  Canada, 
this  evening. 

"Wants  a  good  mine. 

"Is  worth  many  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

"Is  stopping  at  private  rooms  and  will  be  pleased 
to  see  any  one  having  good  prospects  for  sale,"  and  set 
the  same  in  front  of  his  office ;  when  anyone  inquired 
about  the  newcomer  he  pointed  to  the  blackboard  as  con- 
taining all  he  knew  about  him.  This  started  a  regular 
train  of  prospect  holders  to  the  bank  building;  they  would 
ring  the  bell,  the  colored  boy  would  open  the  door  just 
far  enough  to  ask  what  was  wanted,  and  as  the  visitors 


AND  THE  PIONEER  269 

answered,  "To  see  Mr.  E.  H.  Hamilton,"  the  colored 
boy  would  say,  "He  is  in  an  important  conference  and 
cannot  be  seen  until  tomorrow."  The  "back-cappers" 
knew  this  meant  that  he  was  hidden  out  from  them. 
They  then  started  out  to  find  what  claim  Mr.  Wick- 
ham  had  in  view.  They  got  the  county  clerk  to  open  up 
his  office  and  they  found  Mr.  Wickham  had  recently 
taken  a  bond  on  the  Kuklux  mine,  about  four  miles  south 
of  Capitol  City,  and  on  the  southeast  side  of  Henson 
Creek.  One  of  the  "back-cappers"  mounted  a  horse  and 
started  for  the  Ule  for  the  night,  to  stand  guard  and  to 
fall  in  with  the  expert  and  Mr.  Wickham  as  they  passed, 
and  to  block  all  possibility  of  Wickham's  sale  unless  he 
would  make  it  an  object  to  them. 

The  cashier  and  Mr.  Boyd  joined  the  expert  and  Mr. 
Wickham  in  a  short  time.  The  expert  took  a  bracer  and 
a  Havana,  and  soon  someone  proposed  a  game  of  whist. 
As  the  game  waxed  warm  Mr.  Wickham  ordered  supper 
sent  up  for  four.  About  eleven  o'clock  the  game  closed, 
and  it  was  agreed  that  they  should  start  to  the  Kuklux 
mine  at  four  o'clock  next  morning;  in  fact  Mr.  Wickham 
said  it  was  absolutely  necessary  that  they  go  early  while 
the  crust  was  so  frozen  on  the  snow  drifts  that  it  would 
hold  up  the  weight  of  their  horses;  that  they  could  get 
breakfast  at  Capitol  City,  etc.  The  mining  expert  replied, 
"Hany  time  will  be  quite  hagreeable  to  me."  The  horses 
were  ordered  to  be  at  the  bank  at  four  o'clock  the  next 
morning.  Mr.  Wickham  retired,  satisfied  that  he  had 
baffled  all  chances  of  the  "back-cappers"  interfering  with 
his  prospective  purchasers. 

Mr.  Wickham,  Mr.  Campbell  and  Mr.  Hamilton 
mounted  their  horses  and  headed  for  the  Kuklux  mine  just 
as  the  dawn  began  to  appear  in  the  East  and  before  there 


270  THE  PILGRIM 

appeared  to  be  any  one  astir  in  the  town.  Mr.  Wick- 
ham  led  the  way  up  Bluff  Street  and  no  appearance 
of  life  was  visible,  more  than  an  occasional  stream  of 
light  from  some  all-night  saloon,  until  they  were  about 
to  pass  out  of  the  city,  when  they  ran  right  upon  two 
gleeful  Irishmen  holding  each  other  up,  and  between 
hiccoughs,  chucking  one  another  in  the  ribs. 

The  taller  one  looked  up  and  said,  "Ellow,  the  top 
of  the  marning  to  yes,  foine  gintlemin." 

"Hello,  what  is  the  trouble,"  inquired  Mr.  Wickham. 

"A  divil  of  a  bit  of  trouble  it  is,"  answered  Moike. 
"Wa've  bin  on  a  bit  of  a  droonk  and  are  a  bit  unsartain 
about  the  floight  of  toime,  so  we  be.  'Pat/  says  Oi,  'the 
marning  approaches  in  the  Ast  and  I  most  be  after 
drapping  in  and  sawing  a  bit  of  wood  for  the  old  dame 
for  breakfast/  ' 

"  'To  the  divil  with  the  auld  dame/  says  Pat,  'she 
has  to  pack  the  wood  'in,  and  she  moight  as  well  saw  it 
while  she  is  about  it,  so  she  moi  —  -ght.'  ' 

"  'By  the  way,  Moike/  said  I,  Til  bit  yes  tbe  Irinks 
that  this  loight  in  the  horizin  is  not  a  search  loight  of  the 
marning  sun,  but  it  is  the  hora  bora  hallis  of  the  sitting 
sun.'  " 


/7  said  Mike,  "What  does  yes  foine  gintlemin 
say  ?  Is  it  this  marning  or  is  it  this  avening  ?" 

Mr.  Wickham  answered,  "If  the  sun  still  rises  in  the 
East  I  should  say  that  aurora  in  the  East  is  a  harbinger  of 
morning." 

Mike  grabbed  Pat  in  his  arms,  chucked  his  sprang- 
led  fingers  down  his  shirt-collar,  nudged  him  in  the  ribs 
and  pumbled  him  off  toward  the  nearest  saloon,  consoling 
him  on  the  way  by  saying,  "Now,  Pat,  it  was  a  foine 
thing,  so  it  was,  that  yes  didn't  back  up  yes  judgmint  on 


AND  THE  PIONEER  271 

yeh  hora  bora  hallis,  as  I'd  raised  yes  till  ye'd  bin  so 
poor  yes  spit  wouldn't  rattle  on  dry  laves."  Locked  in 
each  others  arms  they  tumbled  through  the  saloon  door 
out  of  sight  and  hearing. 

The  travelers  passed  from  the  town  through  the  toll-gate 
into  the  wild,  beautiful,  and  picturesque  canon  of  Hen- 
son  Creek,  which  is  a  mere  crease  cut  deep  down  into 
these  majestic  mountains  just  wide  enough  in  many  places 
for  a  bed  for  Henson  Creek.  However,  Western  enter- 
prise had  carved  a  passibly  good  road  in  the  cliffs  near 
the  water's  edge.  The  travelers  trotted  along  at  a  cheer- 
ful gait  and  reached  the  Ule  mine  just  as  the  brilliant 
sun  arose  and  threw  his  long,  white  rays  over  the  hills 
on  the  northwest  side  of  the  creek,  but  the  other  side 
of  the  creek  was  shaded  and  chilly. 

As  the  expert  reached  the  Ule  mine  Dick  Grade,  one  of 
the  most  despicable  "back-cappers"  in  the  San  Juan,  beck- 
oned Mr.  Wickham  to  one  side  and  said,  "Mr.  Wickham, 
I  know  you  have  a  party  here  to  buy  the  Kuklux  mine 
and  I  want  to  warn  you  that  no  sale  of  that  mine  can 
be  made  until  I  am  made  whole.  I  had  a  bond  on  that 
mine  once  and  spent  much  time  and  money  in  working 
up  a  sale,  then  the  owner  went  back  on  me.  I  took  an 
oath  then  that  this  mine  never  should  be  sold  until  I  got 
my  money  out  of  it,  and  I  think  you  know  me  too  well 
to  expect  me  to  perjure  myself  against  my  own  interests." 

Mr.  Wickham  answered,  "You  astonish  me;  if  your 
supposition  should  prove  true,  what  would  you  expect?" 

The  "back-capper"  replied,  "I  know  you  can't  make 
me  whole,  so  I  will  just  demand  an  even  'divy'  with  you." 

Mr.  Wickham  answered,  "That  would  be  an  outrage, 
an  extortion;  you  can  do  your  worst,  sir." 


272  THE  PILGRIM 

"A  hint  to  the  wise  ought  to  be  sufficient,"  suggested 
the  "back-capper."  "No  'divy7,  no  sale.  Good  day." 

They  rode  on  for  a  mile  or  so,  stopped  to  get  a 
drink  of  water;  as  they  were  mounting,  up  rode  the 
"back-capper"  and  pushing  right  up  to  the  expert,  said, 
"A  very  fine  morning,  sir." 

"Yes,"  replied  the  expert,  "the  rising  hand  setting 
sun  hin  the  West  his  halways  very  henjoyable  to  me." 

"Yes,"  answered  the  "back-capper,"  "the  Western 
sun  is  the  most  constant,  strong,  and  brilliant  known  to 
man ;  it  is  as  much  superior  to  the  Eastern  sun  for 
lighting  purposes  as  an  incandescent  light  is  superior  to 
a  tallow  candle;  its  energy  and  constancy  in  the  West 
surpasses  that  of  the  East  as  much  as  the  energy  and 
constancy  of  the  intelligent,  vivacious,  and  ambitious  New 
England  Yankee  excels  the  energy  of  the  slothful  Zulu 
chief tian,  and  yet  while  the  north- west  side  of  this  creek 
is  sunbathed  from  sunrise  to  sunset  most  every  c(ay  in  the 
year,  the  hills  on  the  other  side  of  the  creek  are  dark, 
cold,  and  chilly;  the  partial  sun  throws  his  warm,  piercing 
rays  at  direct  angles  into  the  snow  banks  on  the  north- 
west hills,  while  he  throws  them  at  the  snow  on  the 
south-east  hills  at  such  oblique  angles  that  his  rays  slip 
off  these  snow  banks  like  a  boy's  shale-stone  thrown  at 
oblique  angles  upon  a  sheet  of  ice." 

"But,"  retorted  the  expert,  "hit  as  hits  hadvantages; 
you  will  hobserve  the  snow  melts  hon  the  right  side  hof 
the  creek  habout  has  fast  has  hit  falls  and  runs  hoff  the 
steep  'ills  hinto  Enson  Creek  hand  'urries  hoff  to  the 
Gulf  of  California  without  wetting  the  ground;  this 
causes  a  continuing  drought  which  makes  the  pine,  spruce, 
hand  quaking  asp  trees  shaggy,  scrubby,  hand  hunsightly, 
hand  no  grass  hor  flowers  hat  hall,  while  hon  the  hother 


AND   THE  PIONEER  273 

side  hof  the  creek  the  sun's  rays  strike  the  snow  at  such 
sloping  hangles  that  it  melts  slowly  hand  hall  hof  the 
resulting  water  soaks  hinto  the  ground,  causing  a  beau- 
tiful growth  of  thick,  tall,  symmetrical  forests  of  pine, 
spruce,  hand  quaking  hasp  trees,  hand  ha  beautiful  car- 
pet of  profuse  wild  flowers ;  so  you  see  there  his  ha  com- 
pensation hin  the  sun's  neglect.  I  was  hout  in  Harizona 
hexamining  ha  mine  last  summer  while  General  Sherman 
was  there.  The  sun  was  simply  hunbearable.  Ha  minister  of 
the  gospel  had  been  very  much  himpressed  while  reading 
some  of  the  hepigrammatic  sayings  hof  General  Sher- 
man set  forth  hin  the  morning  paper,  hand  hamong  them, 
'War  is  'ell.'  This  minister  went  hat  once  hand  called 
hon  General  Sherman.  He  found  him  hout  hunder  the 
shade  of  a  tree  with  'is  shirt  hopen  hand  trying  to  force 
some  hair  hinto  'is  bosom  with  ha  big  palm-leaf  fan.  The 
minister  said,  'General  Sherman,  hi  was  very  much 
pleased  to  find  your  declaration  hagainst  war  hin  the 
morning  paper.'  General  Sherman  said,  'Hi  ham  hin 
favor  hof  one  more  war.  Hi  want  to  fight  Mex- 
ico once  more.  Hi  would  like  to  force  her,  hat  the 
point  hof  the  bayonet,  to  take  back  Harizona."  So  you 
see  the  strength,  the  direct  rays,  hand  the  constancy  hof 
the  sun  may  be  ha  curse  has  well  has  a  blessing.  Hi 
hinfinitely  prefer  the  south-east  side  of  the  creek  with 
hits  beautiful,  thrifty  forests  hand  fragrant  flower  gar- 
dens, with  hits  dark,  cool  atmosphere,  to  the  dry,  parched- 
hup  north-west  side  with  hits  bright,  sunny  climate." 

aAh,  but,"  observed  the  "back-capper,"  "there 
is  as  great  a  mystery  wrapped  up  in  the  dominating 
powers  of  the  sun  in  development  of  the  royal  metals 
as  there  is  in  the  marvelous  powers  of  the  moon  over  the 
ebb  and  flow  of  the  tides.  Would  it  surprise  you  should 

THE  PILGRM.— 18 


274  THE  PILGRIM 

I  tell  you  that  every  chute  of  pay  ore  on  Henson  Creek 
is  on  the  warm,  sun-bathed  hills  of  the  north-west  side 
of  the  creek  ?  The  Ute,  Ule,  Ocean  Wave,  Wave  of  the 
Ocean,  Eed  Eover,  Silver  Cord,  Dolly  Varden,  and 
numerous  other  claims,  are  producing  pay  ore  on  the 
sunny  side  of  these  hills  and  not  a  mine  on  the  shaded 
side  of  the  hill  is  producing;  and  it  is  the  same  country, 
the  same  formation,  and  the  veins  cross  this  creek,  but 
the  mineral  seems  not  to  develop  in  these  cold,  shaded, 
timbered  hillsides." 

"My ,  Mr.  Campbell  I"  exclaimed  Mr.  Wickham, 

"listen  to  that,  and  yet  there  is  more  fact  than  fiction 
about  it.  I  was  a  fool  not  to  divide  profits  with  him,  but 
how  did  he  learn  of  my  plans  ?  I  told  nobody  and  yet 
he  knows  my  every  purpose  and  is  now  defeating  every 
possibility  of  a  sale.  I  must  get  Mr.  Hamilton  away  from 
him,  but  even  this  will  be  suspicious.  I  will  let  him 
do  his  best,  then  tell  Mr.  Hamilton  all;  but  some  of 
the  things  he  is  telling  are  stubborn  facts.  I  would  like 
to  thump  him  and  I  ought  to,  but  I  will  try  to  control 
myself  on  the  theory  that  discretion  is  the  better  part  of 
valor." 

They  reached  Mr.  Stevens'  cabin  and  saw  him  wheel- 
ing some  rock  out  of  the  Black  Jack,  just  across  Henson 
Creek  on  the  shaded  side.  Said  the  back-capper,  "Let's 
ride  over  a  moment  and  see  what  he  is  getting."  They 
found  he  had  a  little  high-grade  crystallized  ore.  The 
back-capper  inquired,  "Have  you  any  more  of  the  ores 
of  this  vicinity  about  your  cabin  ?"  He  answered,  "Yes, 
from  all  of  the  mines  about  here."  The  back-capper  sug- 
gested, "Let's  go  up  and  I  will  show  you  the  difference 
in  the  ore  found  on  the  different  sides  of  the  creek." 


AND   THE   PIONEER  275 

Mr.  Wickham  answered,  "No,  no,  we  have  no  time 
to  be  chasing  rainbow  theories  today ;  we  must  go  on." 

"Oh,  yes,  yes,"  broke  in  the  expert,  "This  his  a  re- 
markably hinteresting  subject  and  his  worth  the  short 
time  we  will  devote  to  hit." 

In  despair  Mr.  Wickham  followed  them  up  the  hill, 
convinced  that  the  "back-capper"  had  his  expert  hypno- 
tized, and  the  only  thing  left  now  was  to  give  the  deceiver 
more  rope  and  trust  to  the  probability  of  his  hanging  him- 
self. So  he  abandoned  the  expert  to  the  tender  mercies  of 
the  "back-capper." 

The  latter  took  the  splendid  gray  copper  ore 
of  the  Red  Rover,  Silver  Cord,  Little  Hattie,  Wave  of 
the  Ocean,  Ocean  Wave,  etc.,  from  the  sunny  side  of  the 
mountain,  and  put  them  on  one  side,  and  the  ore  from 
the  Black  Jack,  Gimlet,  Big  Button,  Pecksniff,  etc.,  just 
opposite,  on  the  shaded  side  of  the  creek,  and  put  them 
in  a  row  opposite,  and  said,  "Gentlemen,  the  ores  from 
the  different  sides  of  this  creek  look  as  different  as  if 
found  on  the  opposite  sides  of  the  globe,  and  that  from 
the  bare  and  sun-bathed  hills  is  the  superior  quality  and 
abundant  quantity  produced  in  the  sunny  cultivated  fields, 
while  those  from  the  icy  cold  south-eastern  side  of  the 
creek  are  like  unto  the  fruit  or  cereals  produced  in  the 
untamed  and  shaded  woodland.  Who  can  tell  but  what 
the  light  and  heat  of  the  sun  perform  quite  as  important 
a  function  in  developing  the  mineral  as  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  vegetable  kingdom  ?" 

Mr.  Stevens  asserted:  "I  know  all  of  the  paying 
mines  here  are  on  the  sunny  side  and  since  I  come  to 
think  of  it,  I  believe  all  the  good  mines  where  I  used 
to  be  in  Nevada  were  on  the  sunny  side  of  the  hills." 

They  mounted,  loped  into  Capitol  City,  ate  break- 


276  THE  PILGRIM 

fast,  then  had  an  invitation  from  Mr.  Arnold  to  look  at 
a  splendid  mineral  cabinet  which  he  had  gathered. 

The  "back-capper"  asked  him  whether  he  got  more 
of  those  on  the  south-east  or  on  the  north-west  side  of 
the  creek  ?  "Oh,"  he  replied,  "all  on  the  north-west  side 
of  the  creek.  We  have  found  nothing  near  here  on  the 
south-east  side." 

The  "back-capper"  got  the  expert  off  in  one  corner 
and  inquired,  "Is  it  not  strange?  Some  years  ago  I  got 
a  bond  on  the  Kuklux  mine  on  the  south-east  side  of  the 
creek,  and  got  a  shift  of  the  best  miners  of  the  country 
and  took  them  up  there  and  told  them,  'I  want  you  to 
take  out  ore  here  for  a  few  days.'  There  was  one  big 
piece  of  galena  that  would  weigh  about  two  tons,  stick- 
ing between  the  walls,  and  this  was  all  that  was  in  sight. 
One  of  the  miners  said,  'If  you  want  to  sell  it  you  had 
better  leave  that  in  there  because  in  my  judgment  there 
is  no  more  in  the  mine,  and  on  this  side  of  the  creek  they 
are  like  this  clear  down  to  the  Gunnison  River;'  and  this 
question  has  had  me  confused  ever  since." 

The  "back-capper"  got  upon  his  horse  and  returned 
home  as  certain  that  no  sale  could  be  made  as  he  was 
that  death  would  finally  overtake  him.  He  chuckled  to 
himself,  "If  Wickham  was  not  so  infernally  greedy  he 
could  make  some  sales,  but  without  a  'divy'  no  sales 
here." 

Mr.  Wickham  told  the  expert  all  and  he  seemed 
greatly  surprised.  'He  replied :  "Hit  seem's  'ard  to  believe 
that  one  so  bright,  cheerful,  hand  hentertaining  could  be 
ha  scoundrel.  'Owever,  there  see'ms  to  be  much  truth  hin 
'is  sayings ;  not  only  he,  but  Messrs.  Stevens  and  Arnold, 
both,  disinterested  miners,  seem  to  corroborate  'im." 

The  expert  had  no  heart  in  the  examination  of  the 


AND  THE  PIONEER  277 

mine,  but  was  seriously  pondering  over  the  question,  "It 
is  on  the  shaded  side  of  the  hill.  Does  the  heat  and  light 
of  the  sun  materially  affect  the  development  of  the  mineral 
kingdom  ?  and  if  so,  to  what  extent  ?" 

The  mine  was  in  splendid  condition.  The  large 
bodies  of  galena  were  stripped  and  shining  from  end  to 
end.  The  "back-capper"  gone,  Mr.  Wickham  thought  a 
sale  assured. 

When  they  finished  examining  the  mine  Mr.  Wick- 
ham  suggested  that  they  were  about  midway  between 
Ouray  and  Lake  City,  and  as  Mr.  Hamilton  was  going 
west  anyway  it  might  be  preferable  for  him  to  go 
by  Ouray,  the  most  direct  route.  Mr.  Hamilton  said, 
"Yes,  hi  much  prefer  to  travel  hover  new  territory, 
bother  things  being  hequal." 

They  struck  a  lively  trot  toward  the  head  of  Henson 
Creek  and  soon  met  Mr.  Judson  and  Miss  Queechy,  lead- 
ing members  of  the  "smart  set"  of  Lake  City,  heavily 
goggled  and  cloaked.  Mr.  Wickham  said,  "Good  morn- 
ing, have  you  been  visiting  at  Rose's?"  "We  are  from 
Ouray,"  said  Mr.  Judson.  Mr.  Wickham  replied,  "You 
must  have  started  long  before  daylight  to  have  reached 
this  place  so  soon."  The  Lake  City  friends,  with  con- 
fused embarrassment,  whipped  up  their  horses,  and'  left 
the  questioners  standing  in  the  road. 

The  mine  hunters  moved  on  and  in  a  short  time 
reached  Rose's  cabin,  a  historical  landmark  found  on 
maps  and  in  histories.  It  is  a  huge,  two-story,  log  house 
standing  on  a  steep,  sunless  hillside  in  a  dense  spruce 
forest  with  the  snow  on  the  north  side  piled  up  to  the 
eaves,  some  of  it  from  sweeping  the  roof.  It  was  con- 
stantly settling,  squeaking,  and  popping,  and  kept  the 
guests  jumping  and  almost  constantly  talking  of  the  prob- 


278  THE  PILGRIM 

abilities  of  its  sliding,  with  the  building,  into  Henson 
Creek.  Henson  Creek,  on  the  summit  above  this  point, 
breaks  into  numerous  little  rivulets  like  the  veins  on  one's 
hand ;  a  small  stream  comes  from  every  neighboring  snow- 
bank and  blots  out  all  definite  landmarks.  Mr.  Wickham 
asked  the  proprietor: 

"Is  it  safe  for  us  to  endeavor  to  cross  the  range 
without  a  guide  ?" 

"Oh,  yes,"  replied  Mr.  Scranton.  "Mr.  Judson  and 
Miss  Queechy  have  come  over  this  morning  and  as  there 
has  been  no  snow  fall  since  yesterday  afternoon,  you  can 
readily  back-track  their  horses  right  into  Ouray." 

The  travelers  took  the  trail  of  the  fresh  horse  tracks 
and  quickly  made  the  summit  of  Engineer  Mountain,  the 
famous  "American  Flats,"  a  great  area  of  flat  ground 
twelve  or  thirteen  thousand  feet  above  sea  level,  covered 
with  a  turf  of  grass,  and  in  mid-summer  with  wild  flow- 
ers; the  ground  is  always  so  damp  and  springy  that  the 
pack-trains  and  horsemen  leave  no  lasting  impression  or 
trails  over  their  great  frigid  domain ;  and  there  is  not  a 
tree,  as  eleven  thousand  feet  is  "timber  line,"  or  as  high  as 
timber  will  grow;  nor  was  there  on  these  flats  a  peak  to 
guide  the  confused  travelers. 

They  were  soon  nonplussed  by  coming  to  the  place 
where  Mr.  Judson  and  Miss  Queechy  had  camped  the 
night  before,  and  there  was  no  sign  of  horse  tracks  from 
here  as  the  snow  had  filled  up  those  made  the  day 
before.  They  were  at  their  wits'  ends.  They  had  all  read 
the  graphic  description  of  Charley  Hall  losing  his  way 
here  'early  in  the  sixties,  how,  from  the  pangs  of  hunger 
and  confusion,  he  lost  his  mind,  and  was  found  and 
carried  down  when  he  was  at  the  threshhold  of  death. 

They  had  read  of  Mr.   Gerould,   Turner  Brothers' 


AND  THE  PIONEER  279 

man,  on  his  way  to  Ouray  with  $5,000  strapped  upon  him, 
being  lost  for  days  here,  and  how  he  was  rescued  just 
before  the  twilight  of  reason  had  departed. 

They  had  all  read  of  the  magic,  impelling  influences 
of  Horse-thief  Trail  which  had  always  beguiled  all  un- 
protected strangers  into  the  sinuosities  of  Cow  Creek, — 
such  a  confusing  wonderland  that  the  traveler  seemed  in- 
capable of  going  on  or  retracing  his  steps,  and  moved  in 
regular  circles  until  some  one,  an  immune  to  these  mystic 
mazes,  came  and  broke  his  spell. 

Mr.  Campbell  suggested: 

"Here,  gentlemen,  are  the  tracks  of  a  man  leading 
off  toward  .Mineral  Point;  a  pedestrian  has  been  here  this 
morning.  Let  us  follow  him." 

They  pursued  the  trail  for  a  mile  and  a  half  when 
they  came,  upon  the  May  Day  mine,  overlooking  Mineral 
Point,  and  found  Mr.  Bain,  the  superintendent,  with  his 
horse  saddled,  ready  to  start  for  Ouray.  They  told  him 
of  their  starting  out  in  the  afternoon  to  follow  the  fresh 
horse  tracks  of  Mr!  Judson  and  Miss  Queechy  and  how, 
-just  as  they  had  reached  these  trackless  flats,  they  struck 
their  camp, — back  of  which  all  tracks  were  filled  with 
snow, — and  they  had  followed  a  man's  trail  here. 

The  superintendent  laughed  hysterically  and  replied : 

"This  morning  at  day-break  I  heard  the  sharp 
screams  of  a  tenor-voiced  man  with  the  unmistakable 
vibration  of  distress  in  its  echoes.  I  got  out  upon  the 
point,  spied  a  white  horse,  went  to  it,  and  found  a  young 
man  and  a  buxom  young  woman  with  their  saddle  blankets 
wrapped  around  them;  between  the  chattering  of  his 
unruly  teeth  he  stated  that  they  left  Ouray  the  day  before' 
and  came  along  leisurely,  reached  these  confusing  track- 
less flats,  meandered  around  until  dark,  then  were  com- 


280  THE  PILGRIM 

pelled  to  remain  here  through  the  night.  His  voice  and 
cast  of  countenance  were  pathetic  as  he  sympathetically 
looked  down  upon  the  fair  one  who  stood  at  his  side, 
calm,  sedate,  but  eager;  and  as  he  finished,  she  looked  up 
and  exclaimed : 

"  'Oh,  my,  my ;  last  night  on  this  wild  iceland,  with 
the  wolves  howling  all  around  us,  without  fire,  food,  or 
bedding,  would  have  been  intolerable  if  Jakey  had  not 
been  with  me.  Oh,  what  would  have  become  of  me  here 
with  any  other  person  ?' 

"The  glow  of  self-satisfaction  that  this  evidence  of 
implicit  confidence  and  consoling  companionship  started 
in  the  palid  face  of  Mr.  Judson,  soon  warmed  into  a  beau- 
tiful rose  color;  the  quick  instincts  of  the  sensitive  Miss 
Queechy  detected  the  potent  influence  of  her  confiding 
speech,  and  a  cardinal  warm  cloud  arose  in  her  cheeks, 
and  the  twain  left  the  merciless  American  Flats  with 
more  of  the  feelings  of  those  who  arise  from  the  marriage 
altar  and  hurry  away  to  some  screened  retreat  in  a  strange 
land  for  a  bewitching  honey-moon,  than  of  such  senti- 
ments as  usually  follow  a  night  spent  in  so  wild  and  frigid 
a  lair  as  this,  especially  with  a  cold,  twenty  mile  ride  be- 
fore them  over  a  rugged  mountain  road,  on  hungry, 
jolting  bronchos. 

"The  non-sentimental  would  say  that  some  persons 
are  very  easily  satisfied ;  the  sentimental  would  say,  'With 
the  right  one  at  your  side,  any  cross  is  bearable.' 

"What  a  magic  is  carried  in  the  train  of  a  tender, 
confiding  speech  ?  But  why  use  the  rasping  tongue  with  a 
woman  who  is  so  versed  in  the  gentler  and  more  endearing 
language  of  sighs  and  blushes?  With  her  fine,  natural 
instincts  she  properly  interpreted  every  ebb  and  flow  of 


AND  THE  PIONEER  281 

the  red  corpuscles  that  paled  or  flushed  his  cheek;  she 
is  of  the  sex  of  natural  face  readers — 

Here  Prof.  Hamilton  broke  in :  "Do  you  find  hany 
mines  hon  the  shaded  side  of  the  'ill  ere  ?" 

"Well,  no,"  answered  the  superintendent.  "Our 
mines  are  the  only  ones  found  upon  the  flats  and  they, 
you  will  observe,  are  in  the  most  sunny  spots  near  here." 
The  superintendent  pointed  to  some  twin  buttes  standing 
over  toward  Mineral  Point  and  continued : 

"The  P.  S.  runs  across  there  but  the  ore  chute  is 
on  that  sunny  knoll.  By  the  way,  has  it  occurred  to  you 
that  these  flats  are  the  sources  of  great  rivers?  Snow 
banks  are  perennial  here.  The  bedrock  is  so  close  to  the 
surface  that  the  water  soaks  the  black  muck  from 
the  surface  to  bedrock,  forms  a  springy  turf  of  grass,  and 
every  day  in  the  year  the  water  is  gradually  percolating 
through  the  soil  into  the  channel  below.  You  can  see 
these  companion  springs  over  there  near  Mineral  Point, 
so  close  together  that  a  giant  with  a  long  handled  dipper 
in  each  hand  could  stand  between  them  and  dip  water 
from  both  at  the  same  time.  The  one  on  the  south  is 
the  small  beginning  of  the  Animas  River  which  flows  into 
the  San  Juan  and  the  Colorado  into  the  Gulf  of 
California,  and  the  North  Spring  is  the  source  of  the  Un- 
compahgre  River  which  flows  through  the  Gunnison, 
Grand,  Green  and  Colorado  Rivers  on  into  the  Gulf  of 
California;  this  is  really  the  backbone  of  the  continent, 
the  real  dividing  of  the  waters.  The  headwaters  of  Hen- 
son  Creek  are  on  these  flats  behind  us.  Those  who  wonder 
how  a  mountain  stream  flows  on  forever  through  the  long 
drought  as  well  as  during  the  freshets,  should  examine 
the  economy  of  nature  on  the  "American  Flats"  for  hus- 
banding her  resources  for  all  emergencies.  The  frost  and 


'THERE  SWEPT  BEFORE  THEM  BEAR  CREEK  FALLS." 


AND  THE  PIONEER  283 

the  freezing  of  the  snow  every  night,  keep  it  melting 
very  gradually,  so  that  it  is  never  all  consumed  at  one 
time." 

The  superintendent  mounted  his  horse  and  ordered: 

"Gentlemen,  shut  your  eyes,  follow  me,  and  I  will 
drag  you  around  the  polar  suction  of  Horse-Thief  Trail, 
which  has  ever  heen  the  mortal  foe  of  the  sojourner  here. 
All  have  heen  carefully  warned  against  its  seductive  en- 
chantments, and  about  all  strangers  have  yielded  to  it, 
soon  to  find  themselves  in  helpless  despair  in  the  dark 
canons  of  Cow  Creek,  where  the  trail  in  front  and  behind 
them  gradually  fades  out  and  in  helpless  confusion  they 
travel  in  a  circle  until  rescued  from  without." 

They  jogged  along  over  the  grassy,  springy  turf  at 
a  fair  gait  until  they  reached  Bear  Creek,  a  dashing  moun- 
tain torrent,  shooting  through  a  deep,  box  canon  at  right 
angles  with  the  Uncompahgre  River,  and  emptying  into  it. 
The  narrow  trail  was  stuck  on  a  steep  hillside  far  above 
the  creek  bed,  but  a  little  wider  than  a  horse's  hoof,  with 
under-hanging  cliffs,  over  which  a  horse  would  be  hurled, 
if  he  lost  his  footing.  All  of  them,  except  the  mining  super- 
intendent, dismounted  and  walked  around  these  treacher- 
ous cliffs,  but  he  retained  his  seat,  explaining: 

"The  horse,  with  his  additional  two  feet  and  superior 
balance  and  greater  muscular  power,  can  stick  to  the  trail 
much  better  than  his  rider,  and  my  long  experience  with 
him  here  has  convinced  me  that  he  is  equally  careful." 

As  they  descended  to  the  point  of  a  great  hill,  shaped 
like  the  hump  on  a  camel,  there  swept  before  them  Bear 
Creek  Falls,  the  greatest  combination  of  wild,  yawning 
chasms,  mighty  towering  cliffs,  merciless,  grinding,  roar- 
ing waters,  with  gentle,  misty  sprays,  great  chaste,  white- 
spreading  bridal  veils,  variegated  rainbows,  and  symmetri- 


284  THE  PILGRIM 

cal,  white  spray  domes,  couched,  ghost-like,  on  the  smooth 
cliffs  below,  that  has  been  discovered  on  this  continent, 
if  not  in  the  world;  thousands  of  travelers  annually  go 
around  the  circle,  principally  to  view  these  and  neighbor- 
ing scenes,  and  the  travelled  public  generally  pronounces 
this  far  superior  to  anything  in  the  Alps  or  elsewhere,  so 
far  as  they  have  seen. 

The  bed  of  the  TJncompahgre  River  here  is  cut  many, 
many  hundred  feet  down  into  these  majestic  cliffs,  and 
the  trail  in  the  cliff  around  an  obtuse  angle  between  Bear 
Creek  and  the  TJncompahgre  River  is  gouged  out  of  the 
solid  rock  for  quite  a  distance,  just  wide  enough  for  a 
horse  to  crowd  around;  it  might  be  likened  to  the  center 
hoop  around  a  great  hogshead.  It  is  many  hundred  feet 
from 'the  trail  to  the  top  of  the  cliffs  and  even  further 
from  the  trail  to  the  bed  of  the  river  below. 

On  a  level  with  this  elevated  trail  the  water  of  Bear 
Creek,  as  white  as  phosphorus,  and  splashing  and  roaring 
like  Niagara,  comes  pitching  and  raging  through  a  nar- 
row water-way  dug  in  the  solid  rock,  as  though  it  meant 
to  leap  over  the  great  chasm  of  the  TJncompahgre,  stand- 
ing at  right  angles ;  but  as  it  shoots  out  of  the  end  of  this 
narrow  rock-trough  over  the  cliff,  like  the  discouraged 
valuter,  it  seems  to  realize  its  powerlessness  to  jump  over, 
it  spreads  itself  into  a  magnificent  bridal  veil  and  lower 
down  on  the  smooth  cliffs  gathers  in  the  form  of  graceful 
white  domes;  then  the  scattered  waters,  like  broken,  im- 
patient particles  of  quick-silver,  reunite  and  trickle  into 
the  more  patient  waters  of  the  TJncompahgre  below. 

A  crude  bridge,  consisting  of  three  logs  side  by  side, 
with  a  few  chips  and  a  little  dirt  thrown  into  the  creases 
between  them,  laid  across  the  narrow  stone  box  channel  of 
Bear  Creek  where  it  dumps  its  raging  waters  over  the 


AND  THE  PIONEER  285 

high  cliff,  constituted  the  only  possible  crossing  or  chance 
for  their  getting  to  Ouray  during  the  day.  The  travelers 
could  not  hear  one  another  talk,  the  noise  of  the  rushing 
water  was  so  great,  and  while  they  were  shaking  their 
heads  in  protest  against  venturing  their  lives  in  crossing 
such  a  torrent  on  this  precarious  make-shift,  where,  if  by 
chance  one  lost  his  footing,  he  would  be  hurled  to  certain 
and  immediate  death,  the  mining  superintendent  with  his 
head  skyward,  without  a  word,  rode  his  horse  over  the 
frail  structure. 

Mr.  Wickham  dismounted,  turned  his  head  toward 
the  cliffs,  and  led  his  horse  over.  Mr.  Campbell  tied  up 
his  bridle,  went  back,  got  a  firm  hold  on  the  large  part  of 
his  horse's  tail,  fixed  his  eyes  above  the  hips  of  his  horse, 
and  followed  him  over.  The  mining  expert  tied  up  his 
bridle,  stepped  behind  his  horse,  gave  him  a  lash  with  his 
rawhide,  and  the  horse  walked  over ;  the  expert  got  down 
on  his  stomach,  turned  -his  head  up  like  a  fur  seal  when 
about  to  be  fed,  and  crawled  over. 

No  one  dared  look,  while  crossing,  at  those  wild,  rag- 
ing waters,  leaping  off  that  high  cliff  a  few  feet  to  his  left. 

When  they  were  all  safely  over,  the  mining  superin- 
tendent suggested: 

"Here  we  have  an  ocular  demonstration  for  the 
evolutionist.  The  first  time  I  passed  here  I  drove  my 
horse  in  front  of  me  and  crawled  over;  by  and  by  I  held 
to  the  tail  of  the  faithful  animal,  and  walked  over ;  after- 
ward I  set  my  eyes  among  the  cliffs  and  led  him  over, 
and  now,  without  any  fear  or  hesitation,  I  ride  him  over. 
I  find  every  stage  of  my  development  represented  here 
today.  So  it  is  with  society.  Generally  there  is  as  much 
difference  between  the  development  of  different  individ- 
uals of  the  same  country  as  there  is  between  the  develop- 


286  THE  PILGRIM 

ment  of  people  of  different  countries.  Each  evolves  on  the 
lines  of  his  particular  environment." 

They  crowded  around  the  cliff  on  the  narrow  trail, 
and  as  they  emerged  from  these  weird,  precipituous,  dark, 
threatening  gorges,  narrow,  dangerous  trails,  and  deafen- 
ing, roaring  waters,  they  felt  like  prisoners  escaped  from 
a  dungeon  surrounded  by  almost  impassable  stone  walls 
and  vigilant,  cold,  merciless  sentinels,  ready  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  every  excuse  to  visit  condign  punishment  on 
the  unfortunate  inmates. 

They  came  out  into  an  open  country,  rocky  and  hilly, 
but  not  dangerous,  and  it  was  well  they  did  so,  as  they 
were  now  in  the  dim  twilight  and  three  miles  from  Ouray. 

Two  Fatalist  women  from  Boston  recently  approached 
this  fantastic  panorama  with  awe  and  astonishment,  and 
the  older  one  exclaimed,  "My,  my !  God  certainly  intended 
that  many,  many  of  us  should  visit  this  retreat,  other- 
wise he  would  not  have  bunched  so  many  rare  beauties 
here." 

Her  companion  said:  "Yes!  Look  at  the 
lovely  rainbow  in  the  mist  cloud !  God  must  have  intend- 
ed this  as  a  part  of  Heaven  or  a  kind  of  a  second  Heaven, 
else  he  would  not  have  dropped  a  rainbow  of  equal  splen- 
dor with  the  token  he  put  in  the  greater  Heaven  to  allay 
the  fears  of  his  children  of  recurring  floods." 

Such  panegyrics  are  quite  common  during  the  tourist 
season  and  no  one  wonders  at  any  apparent  extravagance 
of  pen  or  tongue,  in  the  hopeless  efforts  to  portray  vividly 
this  superb  combination  of  mountain  wildness  and  scenic 
beauty. 

-They  soon  trotted  into  the  picturesque  and  thriving 
town  of  Ouray,  named  for  the  famous  Ute  chief.  They  put 
up  at  the  Dayton  hotel,  and  were  seated  at  the  table  with 


AND  THE  PIONEER  287 

Major  Tompkins,  a  typical  Virginian,  who  had  been  ex- 
tremely poor  for  thirty-five  years,  prior  to  the  sale  of  the 
Rover  mine  which  had  just  lifted  him  back  to  opulence 
for  the  first  time  since  the  emancipation  of  his  many  black 
slaves.  He  had  the  usual  courteous,  genteel,  and  imperious 
chivalry  of  the  Southerner,  and  implicitly  believed  in  the 
eternal  fitness  of  southern  traditions  and  customs,  when 
they  did  not  militate  against  the  proverbial  assumptions 
here  of  the  superiority  of  the  new  western  civilization. 

He  remarked:  "You  will  find  more  rare  ability  in 
the  town  of  Ouray  or  any  other  like  western  town,  than 
you  will  in  an  eastern  town  of  five  times  the  size.  !NTow 
there  is  Mrs.  Yaeger,  General  Elleston's  sister,  who  has 
as  charming  manners,  as  courtly  a  bearing,  and  as  pol- 
ished and  pungent  a  mind,  as  you  will  find  in  a  day's  ride 
in  Paris.  There  is  Walter  Preston,  who  electrified  the 
four  hundred  in  staid  old  London  with  his  charming 
voice,  and  then  we  have  Daisy  Dean,  the  superb  newspaper 
paragrapher — well  he  has  just  simply  whipped  the  wit 
snappers  of  the  whole  country  into  submission." 

He  slowly  drew  from  his  pocket  a  newspaper  para- 
graph, saying,  "Here  is  a  fair  sample  of  power — a  little 
coarse,  but  it  demonstrates  his  brilliancy,"  he  read 
Daisy  Dean's  leader:  "The  Ouray  girls  are  the  most 
daring  and  independent  of  their  sex.  When  they  wish  to 
wander  among  the  Sneffles  peaks  they  just  jump  astride 
of  burros  and  make  them  leap  from  crag  to  crag  like  so 
many  mountain  goats." 

The  major  carefully  laid  this  one  down  and  picked 
up  the  second  one,  saying,  "Here  is  a  burlesque  on  Dean's 
paragraph  by  the  Boston  -  — :  'What  can  Daisy 
Dean  find  extraordinary  in  the  Ouray  girls  jumping 
a-straddle  of  donkeys  and  riding  across  the  Rockies.  Such 


288  THE  PILGRIM 

tame  pastimes  are  not  noticed  in  Boston.  Why,  my  dear 
sir,  when  a  Boston  girl  wishes  to  cross  Boston  Bay  she  just 
jumps  astride  of  a  huge  Codfish,  pops  her  heels  in  his 
flanks,  and  he  goes  splashing,  diving,  and  lunging  to  the 
other  shore  with  her.'  ' 

The  Pioneer  laughed  heartily  and  said :  "Really, 
that  is  very  clever." 

The  major  never  smiled,  but  pulled  out  the  third  clip- 
ping, saying:  "I  should  say  'clever.'  If  you  will  listen 
to  Dean's  rejoinder  you  will  observe  wherein  pungent 
western  ability  shines  like  the  sun  contrasted  with  a 
tallow  candle,  when  compared  with  that  of  the  effete  east, 
'Ah!  Ha!  The  athletic  Boston  girl  just  jumps  as- 
tride of  the  knightly  cod,  plants  her  knotty  heels  in 
'his  scaly  flank,  and  he  gallantly  lunges  to  the  other  shore 
with  her,  eh?  This  fatal  admission  suggests  a  very  deli- 
cate question  for  the  Natural  History  Society  in  locating 
the  responsibility  for  certain  well  known  aromas,  if  justice 
is  to  be  done  to  this  much  appreciated  family  of  the  finny 
tribe.'  " 

The  Major  stroked  his  whiskers,  laughed,  rested,  and 
laughed  again,  and  said:  "Really  that  is  the  sharpest 
thing  I  ever  saw  in  my  life." 

Daisy  Dean  was  ushered  in  and  seated  at  the  table, 
but  no  one  suggested  to  him  that  his  greatness  had  been 
the  subject  of  discussion. 

The  waiter  appeared  with  an  order  of  ham  and  eggs 
for  the  Virginian.  The  Virginian  looked  askance  at  it, 
smelled  of  the  ham,  pushed  it  back,  and  remarked: 
"Northerners  do  not  know  how  to  put  up  or  cook  ham 
so  as  to  make  it  palatable.  In  the  Old  Dominion  the  far- 
mers sprinkle  a  little  clean  hickory-wood  ash  over  it  when 
salted  down  so  as  to  give  it  an  appetizing  flavor  and  also 


AND  THE  PIONEER  289 

to  keep  the  skippers  off ;  when  the  old  mammies  cook  a  ham 
they  soak  the  ashes  out,  par-boil  it  in  champagne,  slice  it 
and  sprinkle  a  little  pepper  over  it,  and  there  is  a  dish 
fit  for  the  gods." 

Daisy  Dean,  with  a  contemptuous  curl  of  the  lip 
arose,  saying:  " You  boil  ham  in  champagne ?  You,  who 
have  been  living  around  here  for  the  past  twenty  years 
on  snowballs  and  rabbit  tracks,  without  a  thing  of  value 
except  your  dignity,  talk  about  boiling  ham  in  cham- 
pagne ?"  Daisy  Dean  grasped  his  hat  and  in  disgust  started 
out  when  the  Virginian  as  a  compromise  suggested  that  if 
the  champagne  was  not  on  hand  a  little  hard  apple  cider 
would  do. 

Mr.  Wickham  said :  "Major,  that  uncalled  for  thrust 
would  be  contemptible  and  cruel,  if  your  star  meant  what 
he  said,  but  I  am.  sure  he  did  not.  I  have  observed  all 
of  my  life  that  good  talkers  are  constantly  talking  too 
much,  and  wit-crackers  are  constantly  wounding  their 
friends  by  yielding  to  the  temptation  to  display  their 
gifts. 

"He  is  drinking,  'I  reckon,"  replied  the  Major,  and 
he  arose  and  meekly  walked  into  the  office  where  he  could 
bind  up  the  unexpected  wound. 

Soon  after  supper  the  Government  explorers  and 
two  local  pioneers,  Captains  Craydon  and  Joyce,  called 
upon  Mr.  Wickham,  and  the  evening  was  consumed  in 
comparing  the  trapper  and  the  pioneer  periods,  and  the 
causes  of  the  development  of  these  two  periods  in  inverse 
orders. 

There  was  a  concensus  of  opinion  that  the  trappers 
and  old  hunters,  who  occupied  this  country  between  1826 
and  1859,  the  trapper's  period,  presented  in  common  with 
the  Indians,  the  unique  combinations  of  gentleness,  gen- 


290  THE  PILGRIM 

erosity,  and  kindness,  when  everything  moved  along  har- 
moniously, and  that  like  them  they  were  the  embodiment 
of  ferociousness,  brutality  and  inhumanity  when  aroused 
by  an  insult  or  a  supposed  injury.  All  were  agreed  that 
during  the  trapper  period  the  whites  degenerated  until 
they  preferred  the  wild  animal  skins  to  woolen  clothing, 
the  woods  and  dark  gorges  to  the  bright  cities,  and  the 
tepee  to  the  house,  as  an  abode. 

"Why,"  said  Captain  Craydon,  "there  is  Jim  Baker, 
who  left  Illinois  when  about  grown,  in  1826,  and  when  we 
came  out  in  1859  he  was  completely  metamorphosed  into 
a  typical  red  man  in  dress,  habits,  tastes,  and  aspirations. 
He  ate  with  them,  hunted  with  them,  slept  with  them,  and 
married  a  chubby  young  squaw.  You  would  have  thought 
that  when  the  white  people  became  abundant  in  the  terri- 
tory he  would  have  drifted  back  to  the  civilization  of  his 
youth,  but  no !  Honest,  generous,  brave,  manly,  incorrigible 
Jim  Baker,  after  twenty  years  with  the  Indians,  persisted 
in  using  their  dress,  their  ways,  their  superstitions;  and 
when  he  went  to  Denver  to  sell  his  furs  and  hides  he  was 
as  anxious  as  any  Indian  to  get  away  from  civilization 
and  back  to  his  blanket  clothing,  back  to  his  tepee,  back 
to  his  wild  squaw.  Even  the  famous  Kit  Carson,  with 
all  of  his  Kentucky  chivalry  and  southern  pride,  though 
he  came  out  in  1826  when  but  seventeen  years  of  age,  by 
constant  association  soon  reduced  himself  to  a  point  where 
he  could  love  and  wed  a  dusky,  uncivilized  squaw,  and  if 
death  had  not  soon  called  her  from  him,  who  knows  but 
that  he  would  have  followed  the  downward  footsteps,  so- 
cially, of  Jim  Baker  and  many  others.  Kit  Carson's  In- 
dian wife  soon  brought  him  a  brown-eyed  little  daughter 
that  he  raised  with  much  care,  but  she  closely  fol- 
lowed her  mother's  type.  Soon  after  the  loss  of  his 


AND   THE  PIONEER  291 

wife  lie  married  Josepha  Jaramillo,  a  Mexican  woman, 
which  changed  his  kindred  and  associates,  and  he  often 
hired  his  services  to  army  officers  and  explorers  and  finally 
developed  into  a  great  Indian  fighter  rather  than  one  of 
the  fribe ;  but  who  can  see  far  enough  into  the  "might  have 
been's"  to  tell  what  the  young  wife  might  have  wrought 
in  degenerating  his  tastes,  habits,  and  ambitions  had 
death  not  arrived  before  her  wild  -nature  wielded  its  full 
influence  over  him.  However,  the  great  Kit  Carson,  with 
his  strong  individuality,  upright  character,  and  undaunted 
courage,  presented  such  characteristics  as  make  environ- 
ments yield  to  the  individual,  or  he  is  of  the  strong  type 
that  makes  its  own  environments  and  may  be  classed  as 
exceptional." 

The  Pioneer's  countenance  changed  to  a  radiant 
glow,  as  he  eagerly  exclaimed:  "I  see!  I  see!  A  light 
is  breaking  through  the  dense  fog  that  has  been  gathering 
about  me  ever  since  the  birth  of  my  children.  Ah,  what 
a  clear  demonstration  of  the  subordinating  powers  of  en- 
vironment over  heredity.  This  is  the  first  gleam  of  hope 
that  has  pierced  my  troubled  soul  since  my  unpardonable 
sin,  giving  me  the  faintest  promise  that  my  unfortunate 
progeny  may  be  partially  rescued  during  this  generation 
from  their  hard  fate.  Oh,  will  those  superb  Caucasian 
husbands  be  so  provident  as  to  make  the  environments 
of  my  heavily  burdened  daughters  such  that  the  dis- 
located heredity,  criminally  placed  upon  them  by  me 
may  be  closed  up,  smoothed  over,  and  ironed  out,  during 
this  generation  ? 

"Ah,  if  American  women  are  not  on  the  ground,  the 
men  will  allow  the  dusky  squaws  to  take  them  out  of  their 
tailor  made  suits  and  rig  them  out  in  blankets  and  leather 
strings,  and,  if  occasion  require,  tattoo  them  and  touch 


292  THE   PILGRIM 

them  up  with  a  little  war  paint.  Now  see  what  a  different 
turn  the  pioneers  of  fifty-nine  took.  They  laid  the  foun- 
dation of  a  broader  civilization  than  any  existing  east  of 
them  in  the  old  world  or  the  new.  The  pioneers  married 
the  proud,  imperious  white  women  whose  ambitious  eyes 
are  always  toward  the  sky-line,  and  who  are  ever  pulling 
them  upward.  Ah,  what  model  mothers  they  make  1" 

Captain  Joyce  suggested :  "You  seem  to  talk  with 
the  hare  and  run  with  the  hounds.  You  feign  to  adore 
Caucasian  motherhood  and  yet  you  passed  her  by  and 
chose  a  dark  Indian  princess  as  the  mother  of  your  chil- 
dren. Why  such  a  discrepancy  between  your  words  and 
acts?" 

"Ah,  sir,'7  replied  the  Pioneer,  "Your  query  betrays 
my  secret.  It  is  being  deprived  of  her  in  the  siring 
of  my  children,  that  has  burned  the  sterling  worth  of 
the  Caucasian  mother  into  every  fiber  of  my  soul.  I  gave 
myself  unselfishly  into  holy  wedlock  to  pay  a  debt  of 
gratitude,  without  a  thought  as  to  the  grievous  burden 
I  was  placing  upon  my  posterity  for  many  generations. 
It  required  a  John  Howard  Payne,  a  friendless  and  home- 
less wanderer,  living  in  filth  and  squalor,  really  to  portray 
the  sacred  beauties  and  the  delicate  shades  of  tender 
sentiment  clinging  around  'Home,  Sweet  Home.'  Those 
who  had  always  enjoyed  the  luxuries  of  good  homes  had 
never  given  it  more  than  a  passing  thought.  Shelly 
truthfully  wrote : 

"  'Most  wretched  men  are  cradled  into  poetry  by  wrong, 
They  learn  in  suffering  what  they  teach  in  song.' 

"The  sire  who  daily  sees  the  glorious  image  and 
heavenly  traits  of  one  of  these  matchless  mothers  in  his 
progeny  gives  it  but  a  proud,  approving  nod.  It  is  we 
alone,  who  ever  see  a  preponderance  of  untamed  blood 


AND  THE  PIONEER  293 

irretrievably  chaining  our  innocent,  helpless  children  to 
dishonorable  and  menial,  social,  moral,  intellectual  and 
business  positions,  because  of  inferior  motherhood,  that 
can  fully  appreciate  the  exalted  functions  of  highly  civil- 
ized womanhood." 

The  Pilgrim  and  the  Pioneer  arose  in  the  morning 
and  found  themselves  surrounded  by  the  most  picturesque, 
wierd,  and  bewildering  panorama  of  wildness  and  stately 
scenic  beauty  that  they  had  ever  beheld. 

The  town-site  is  in  a  little  basin  about  one-half  by 
three-fourths  of  a  mile,  so  pitching  from  east  to  west 
that  the  rear  end  of  the  buildings  on  the  east  side  of  the 
main  street  have  the  first  story  under  ground  or  the  sec- 
ond floors  at  the  rear  end  are  level  with  the  ground,  while 
the  first  floors  at  the  rear  end  of  the  buildings  on  the 
west  side  of  the  street  are  ten  or  twelve  feet  above  the 
ground.  The  entire  town-site,  with  the  exception  of  the 
creek  bed  and  a  little  ground  at  places  near  the  edge  of  the 
water,  is  surrounded  by  almost  impassable  mountain  ranges 
towering  skyward. 

From  the  south,  east  and  north  margin  of  the  town, 
hot  water  boils  from  the  cliffs  and  the  smoke  rises  from 
these  springs  and  from  bath  houses  built  in  different 
places  like  smoke  from  so  many  furnaces  just  blown  in. 

At  the  south  boundary,  Cascade  Creek  and  the  Un- 
compahgre  River  come  together.  The  approach  from  a 
southerly  and  a  westerly  direction  is  through  deep  cut 
box-canons  squared  out  like  the  open  end  of  a  great  tuning- 
fork. 

After  the  union,  the  stream  like  a  silver  thread 
winds  its  way  around  the  western  cliff  and  out  through  a 
narrow  throat  at  the  northern  boundary  of  the  town.  For 


294  THE  PILGRIM 

miles  above  this  junction  the  Uncompahgre  comes  roaring 
and  splashing  through  a  deep,  narrow  box-canon  cut 
vertically  into  the  bed  rock  from  fifty  to  hundreds  of 
feet  deep. 

Cascade  Creek  is  cut  down  into  a  solid  bed  rock  in 
the  same  way.  A  few  hundred  feet  south  of  where  this 
stream  empties  into  the  Uncompahgre  is  probably  the 
most  terrifically  wild  water-fall  in  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
not  so  much  because  of  the  height  of  the  fall,  but  because 
the  water  is  confined  in  a  small  twisted  hole  something  like 
the  rifles  in  a  gun  barrel  or  like  the  twist  in  a  corkscrew. 
A  stream  of  water  large  enough  to  move  the  machinery 
of  a  large  mill  comes  rushing  down  from  Imogene  basin, 
tumbles  into  a  large  vertical  funnel  in  the  bed-rock,  surges, 
twists,  and  pitches  from  point  to  point,  and,  in  a  roaring 
rage,  leaps  out  of  the  other  end  of  this  vertical  rock-funnel 
some  hundred  feet  below.  There  is  no  spreading  water- 
fall here,  but  the  rock-hole  keeps  it  in  a  powerful  twist- 
ing, solid  mass. 

This  is  the  first  thing  the  natives  direct  the  sight- 
seers to  visit,  and  the  next  thing  they  are  recommended 
to  drive  five  or  six  miles  up  the  Uncompahgre  and  view 
Bear  Creek  Falls  and  the  trail  cut  out  in  almost  vertical 
cliffs  for  miles.  At  one  point  on  this  trail  one  can  look 
down  upon  Grand  Mesa  dividing  the  Gunnison  and 
Grand  Valleys;  it  is  seventy-five  miles  distant,  and  looks 
like  a  great  cape  of  a  sea  only  a  few  miles  away.  Truly 
the  vision  is  greatly  stretched  out  in  this  clear,  rarefied 
atmosphere. 

The  moment  the  visitors  came  down  stairs  in  the 
morning  the  hotel  clerk  suggested  that  it  might  be  well 
for  them  to  visit  the  hot  springs  in  the  south  end  of 
town,  wash  out  their  stomachs  with  the  natural  flow  of 


AND  THE  PIONEER  295 

hot  water,  and  see  the  falls ;  that  this  would  give,  them 
an  appetite  for  breakfast.  They  took  his  kind  advice 
and  became  so  enchanted  with  the  wonderful  natural  beau- 
ties on  every  hand  that  they  came  near  missing  their 
breakfast.  When  they  returned  they  were  seated  at  the 
table  with  an  exploration  party,  which  had  visited  this 
spot  many,  many  years  before  with  bull  teams.  They  said 
they  found  a  few  >Ute  Indians  here  and  asked  them  if 
this  party  could  pass  on  over  the  range.  One  of  the 
Indians  motioned  as  if  he  were  going  to  walk  over  and 
answered,  "This  way  youy  can  g-o-e-y-,"  then  motioned 
to  the  ox-teams,  shook  his  head,  and  said,  "if  the  woe 
hawy  here  now,  ye  no  get  over." 

They  said  that  Chief  Ouray  once  came  to  their  camp 
and  seeing  the  cook  opening  a  quart  can  of  corn,  he  asked 
for  one.  The  cook  gave  him  a  can  and  a  spoon  and  he 
soon  gulped  down  the  whole  quart  of  corn.  Supper  came 
on  and  he  accepted  an  invitation  and  ate  very  heartily. 
Early  in  the  evening  an  Indian  came  running  over  and 
asked  if  they  had  a  medicine  man,  saying,  "Heap  big 
chief  heap  sickum."  Dr.  Lemon  took  a  hyperdermic  syr- 
inge, went  over,  and  found  him  doubled  up  with  agon- 
izing pains  in  the  stomach.  He  shot  a  wholesome  lot  of 
morphine  into  his  arm  and  the  chief  soon  straightened 
out  and  felt  gloriously  good.  He  asked  to  see  "that  med- 
icine gun."  Dr.  Lemon  showed  it  to  him  and  how  it 
worked,  and  he  became  wonderfully  excited  and  wanted 
to  buy  it.  Dr.  Lemon  told  him  that  he  could  not  do  without 
it,  t^at  it  was  a  pain  puller  and  he  could  jerk  a  pain  out 
of  any  part  of  the  body  in  a  few  moments  with  it.  Chief 
Ouray  said,  "Heap  good  gun.  Give  heap  ponies  for  it," 
but  the  doctor  had  to  go  away  leaving  the  chief  begging 
for  the  syringe. 


AND  THE   PIONEER  297 

These  explorers  pronounced  this  spot,  with  a  drive 
of  six  miles  up  the  river,  superior  to  anything  in  America, 
and  suggested  that  it  probably  surpassed  anything  on  the 
globe.  They  said  their  descriptive  geographer  attempted 
to  describe  this  scene,  failed,  and  gave  it  up  in  disgust, 
on  their  first  trip  here.  That  he  started  his  word  picture 
of  the  wonderful  scene  as  follows:  "If  we  had  been 
dropped  down  from  another  planet  last  night,  with  one 
all  around  sweep  of  the  vision,  we  should  have  concluded 
that  all  of  this  sphere  is  in  sight  and  that  the  only  ave- 
nue of  escape  is  by  direct  ascension."  He  described 
the  south-east  mountains  as  gigantic  heaps  of  conglomerate 
material  fringed  from  the  river  half  way  to  the  top  with 
scattering  bunches  of  quaking  asps  and  pine  trees,  with 
many  lofty,  graceful  peaks  shooting  their  bare,  smooth 
heads  up  among  the  clouds,  with  their  bases  washed 
with  gurgling,  splashing  waters,  in  the  canons  and  basins 
below.  He  described  the  mountains  on  the  south  with 
their  mighty  dykes,  yawning  chasms,  grassy  basins,  snow- 
slide  tracks,  cataracts,  and  water-falls,  then  climaxed 
with  the  majestic  Mount  Sneffles  with  its  colonnades  and 
graceful,  snow-tipped  minarets  gradually  bending  around 
the  south  quarter-circle  of  the  walled-in  amphitheatre  in 
which  this  fascinating  tourist  and  mining  town  is  snugly 
nestled;  but  wrote:  "When  I,  with  one  sweep  of  my 
vision,  took  in  the  towering,  vertical,  cliff- walls,  fencing 
in  the  town  on  the  west  and  the  north,  I  stood  aghast, 
awe-stricken  at  the  two  distinct  forms  of  modern  architec- 
ture which  loomed  up  before  me.  These  walls  seemed  to 
be  constructed  of  the  same  general  material,  towering 
cloudward,  presenting  every  appearance  of  having  been 
constructed  after  a  fixed  design,  with  material  and  walls 
leveled  and  squared,  blending  a  reddish  with  a  brownish 


298  THE  PILGRIM 

tinted  stone,  and  laid  in  alternating,  regular  courses. 
The  south  half  of  the  north  superstructure,  dividing  the 
waters  of  Cow  Creek  and  the  Uncompahgre  River,  is 
covered  with  a  rich  red  mansard  roof,  broken  here  and 
there,  and  ornamented  and  dignified  with  an  occasional 
spire  shooting  heavenward,  with  a  sheet  of  chaste,  pure 
white  water  pouring  out  of  its  south  eave  trough  and 
winding  itself  around  the  huge  boulders  leaning  against 
the  base  of  this  cliff  wall ;  the  more  massive  structure 
on  the  west,  dividing  the  waters  of  the  San  Miguel  and 
Uncompahgre  Rivers,  is  covered  with  a  sombre,  oval,  shell- 
like  roof  so  becoming  to  stately  tabernacles,  and  is  differ- 
ently painted,  differently  decorated,  and  'gracefully  orna- 
mented with  massive,  lead-colored  domes,  one  of  which 
is  tipped  with  a  symmetrical  statue  of  George  Washing- 
ton, as  a  pleasing  substitute  for  the  proverbial  Goddess 
of  Liberty ;  the  impatient  roof-waters  of  the  south  side  of 
this  mighty  structure  come  leaping  and  splashing  from 
its  south  eave  trough,  into  Oak  Creek  at  the  south  side 
of  the  town." 

At  this  point  the  geographer  cast  his  eyes  over  the 
sloping  hillside  on  the  east  of  the  little  city,  and  the  whole 
background  was  a  perfect  tint  of  all  the  known  shades 
and  colors  produced  by  the  fading  rays  of  a  setting  sun 
on  a  variegated  landscape.  He  dropped  his  pen  and  said, 
"It  is  no  use.  These  were  made  to  be  seen;  they  can't 
be  described."  While  he  was  in  a  brown  study,  a  French 
helper  came  along,  stopped  and  looked  up  at  these  ma- 
jestic walls  and  admiringly  exclaimed,  "O,  my,  my! 
Just  look  at  these  regular  horizontal  layers  of  variegated 
stone  of  uniform  thickness  and  length,  running  up  from 
the  bottom  to  the  top  of  these  towering  cliffs  with  as  much 


AND  THE  PIONEER  299 

regularity  and  harmony  as  the  ruffles  on  a  Parisian  dam- 
sel's petticoat.     And  see  the  beautiful  roof " 

"There,  there,"  answered  the  geographer,  "you  will 
be  comparing  that  artistic  roof  to  her  Easter  bonnet  next ; 
those  graceful  spires  to  the  red  feathers  in  her  hat.  Your 
spontaneous  similes  are  more  happy  than  my  best  studied 
efforts,  but  don't  try  to  compare  this  with  any  messy 
work  of  art,  not  even  with  the  ruffles  on  a  French  dam- 
sel's petticoat,  or  the  crown  of  her  Easter  bonnet ;  these 
splendors  are  incomparable.  They  are  blended  here  only 
to  be  seen ;  let's  leave  them  here.  What  can  be  expected 
of  me,  after  the  tongue,  and  brush  and  pen  in  much  abler 
hands,  have  dismally  failed?  All  I  can  becomingly  do, 
is  to  lift  my  hat  reverentially  and  pronounce  this  simple 
benediction:  'The  eye  alone  is  capable  of  transmitting 
the  phantasmagora,  produced  by  the  blending  of  all  these 
scenic  grandeurs  to  the  sense  of  appreciation.  This  is  the 
nonpariel  of  mountain  splendor;  it  is  the  gem  in  the 
diadem  of  mountain  scenic  beauty.' ' 

As  the  explorers  and  the  Pilgrim  and  the  Pioneer 
were  walking  down  Main  street  about  seven  o'clock  in  the 
evening,  they  drifted  upon  a  large  crowd  standing  in  the 
street ;  brilliant  bonfires  were  blazing  from  different  points 
and  the  Judge  was  standing  on  a  dry  goods  box  trying  to 
persuade  the  people  that  he  was  the  very  person  they 
needed  in  the  Senate.  He  flailed  the  Democratic  party 
until  it  was  threadbare.  After  a  talk  of  an  hour  and  a 
half,  and  just  before  entering  upon  a  flowery  and  patriotic 
peroration  which  he  used  in  closing  his  speeches,  the 
Judge  humbly  apologized  for  keeping  the  crowd  standing 
out  in  the  cold  so  long.  The  ever-present  Daisy  Dean 
squeaked  out,  "Go  on,  Judge,  go  on;  we  can  stand  down 
here  as  long  as  you  can  lie  up  there."  The  Democrats 


300  THE  PILGRIM 

howled  and  cheered  and  the  Republicans  jeered  and  hissed, 
to  the  great  discomfiture  of  the  speaker. 

However,  he  straightened  up  and  started  his  grandil- 
oquent peroration : 

"My  fellow  citizens,  when  this  campaign  shall  have 
ended  and  I  have  returned  to  the — to  the — to  the — • 
when  I  shall  have  returned  to  the — family  of  my  bosoms, 


The  audience  broke  into  a  hilarious  shout,  the  speaker 
became  red  in  the  face  and  said,  "Now  laugh  if  you  think 
you  know  better  than  I  do  what  I  wanted  to  say."  He 
recurred,  "I  say  when  I  shall  have  returned  to  the — 
to  the " 

Another  Democrat  piped  out : 

"What  about  the  carpet-baggers  that  the  Republicans 
are  sending  in  here  from  the  East  to  govern  us  ?" 

This  gave  the  desired  opportunity  for  a  diversion  of 
the  speaker's  mind  to  a  new  field,  from  the  futile  attempt 
to  cross  the  lost  trail  of  his  peroration;  his  troubled 
face  brightened  into  a  cheerful,  blazing  glow,  and  he 
sharply  retorted  that  the  few  Democrats  who  can  read 
know  that  the  National  Republican  platform  provides  for 
appointment  of  residents  of  the  territory.  "But  for  the 
benefit  of  the  great  masses  of  the  unterrified,  Bourbon 
Democracy,  who  cannot  read,  I  would  say  that  they  remind 
me  of  the  decision  of  the  Irish  arbiter  in  the  notorious 
turtle  case,  a  few  years  ago.  A  Frenchman  and  a  German 
were  drifting  down  a  marsh  in  Florida  and  came  upon  a 
huge  turtle;  amputating  its  head  and  turning  it  upon  its 
back,  they  waited  for  it  to  die  before  starting  home  with 
it.  The  turtle  persisted  in  working  its  feet  and  tail. 
The  German  said,  'De  turtle  vas  mit  de  knife  his  head 
cut  off,  but  he  vos  not  go  quick  avay  dead.' 


AND  THE  PIONEER  801 

"The  Frenchman  said,  'Ze  is  dead;  when  ze  great 
electric  battere  of  ze  body — ze  brain,  ez  severed,  death 
ez  necessarily  contemporaneous.' 

"And  about  this  time  Pat  McGuire  happened  along. 
Each  stated  his  contention  and  asked  Pat's  opinion. 

"Pat  said,  'Yis,  gintlemin,  I'll  be  after  giving  yes 
moi  bist  jidgment,  so  I  will.  This  blarsted  varmint  is 
dead,  but  it  don't  know  it.' ' 

Continued  the  speaker,  "This  is  the  condition  of  the 
Democratic  party  in  Colorado.  The  Democratic  party 
with  carpet-bagism  is  dead,  but  it  don't  know  it." 

The  Republicans  shouted  and  screamed  with  joy  while 
their  orator  bowed  himself  from  his  crude  rostrum  and 
started  for  his  hotel.  On  the  way  he  warned  his  friends 
if  they  ever  lost  a  peroration,  for  Heaven's  sake  grasp 
immediately  some  associate  incident  to  open  the  sealed 
pigeon  holes  of  memory,  or  weave  in  some  apt  epigram  or 
light  story  and  close  the  scene.  He  said  when  he  forgot 
his  prepared  speech  his  mind  actually  ceased  to  work 
as  long  as  he  held  it  on  that  subject,  and  that  if  some 
Democratic  friend  had  not  come  to  his  aid  with  a  timely 
question  he  would  have  floundered  around  and  spoiled 
his  speech  for  lack  of  a  set  peroration.  "Why,  I  sweat 
blood  while  my  mind  was  clogged,  and  as  I  had  no  associate 
incident  as  a  key  to  my  locked  memory  my  only  remedy 
was  a  resort  to  some  other  resource,  and  my  interrupting 
Democratic  friend  was  a  great  benefactor  instead  of  a 
tormentor,  as  he  intended  to  be." 

Mr.  Wickham  felt  perfectly  safe  when  the  expert 
agreed  to  come  out  this  way,  regarding  the  possible  in- 
fluence of  "back-cappers"  here,  and  he  thought  certainly 
no  one  here  would  divine  the  object  of  his  visitor.  But 
alas!  it  was  not  long  after  breakfast  before  a  gang  was 


302  THE  PILGRIM 

following  them  and  trying  to  get  the  expert  to  one  side. 
By  prearrangement  Mr.  Wickham  and  Mr.  Campbell 
close-herded  him;  whenever  any  of  the  gang  got  up  a 
conversation  with  him  one  of  the  two  staid  by  him.  The 
speculators  watched  till  they  all  went  to  their  rooms  about 
eleven  o'clock  at  night,  then  one  of  the  crowd  went  up 
and  knocked  gently  on  the  expert's  door.  It  was  quickly 
opened.  The  visitor  said  he  was  a  newspaper  man  and 
would  like  a  half  column,  or  such  a  matter,  of  his  im- 
pressions of  the  country.  The  mining  expert  felt  very 
much  flattered,  talked  freely,  and  the  newspaper  man 
told  him  that  the  interview  would  be  very  valuable  to 
the  people  of  the  San  Juan,  and  also  to  the  owner  of  his 
paper,  and  that  he  was  very  much  indebted  to  him.  As 
he  was  giving  him  a  good-night  hand  shake,  he  said,  "By 
the  way,  do  you  ever  indulge  in  a  nip?"  The  expert 
answered,  "Hocassionally  hi  do."  The  newspaper  man 
told  him  he  had  a  friend  just  across  the  street  that  kept 
some  pure  old  Scotch  whisky,  and  they  would  go  over 
and  have  a  quiet  drink.  When  they  reached  Hoskin's 
saloon  they  were  ushered  into  a  back  room  and -the  re- 
porter seemed  very  much  surprised  to  find  Mr.  Hinkley, 
Mr.  Oilfield,  Mr.  Johnson,  and  Mr.  Cass,  the  men  who 
had  been  all  day  trying  to  inveigle  the  expert  away  from 
Mr.  Wickham.  They  cordially  invited  the  newcomers 
to-be  seated  and  insisted  that  they  join  them  in  a  drink. 
The  whole  run  of  their  conversation  was  about  the  fabulous 
richness  of  the  mines  around  Ouray  and  their  sympathy 
for  places  like  Lake  City  and  Henson  Creek,  which  were 
on  the  outer  margin  of  .the  mineral  belt  and  had  just 
ore  enough  to  make  sanguine  men  spend  fortunes  there, 
then  go  out  of  the  country  disgusted.  The  Englishman 
seemed  indifferent  and  took  no  part  in  the  conversation 


AND   THE   PIONEER  303 

and  the  intriguers  felt  sure  he  had  discovered  something 
in  the  "wood  pile/'  or  that  some  one  had  put  him  on  to 
them,  and  finally  after  taking  a  number  of  hot  Scotches 
and  consuming  a  number  of  Havanas,  Mr.  Hinkley,  the 
most  courageous  one,  concluded  to  make  a  spoon  or  spoil 
the  horn,  and  he  was  in  the  humor  to  do  either.  He  started 
in  to  give  the  mining  expert  a  glowing  description  of  the 
Mineral  Farm,  told  him  that  there  was  more  than  a 
hundred  thousand  dollars  worth  of  silver  in  sight,  and  that 
Mr.  Cass  would  take  a  hundred  thousand  dollars  for  the 
claim,  and  warned  him  against  Lake  City  and  Henson 
Creek,  saying  they  were  on  the  very  margin  of  the  mineral 
belt. 

The  expert  turned  to  Mr.  Cass  and  retorted:  "Hif 
you  'ave  such  ha  bloody  good  thing,  why  hare  you  so 
hanxious  to  let  hit  go  ?" 

Mr.  Cass  replied  that  the  altitude  was  too  high 
for  him  and  that  he  had  been  climbing  around  on  those 
steep  hillsides  until  one  shoulder  was  a  foot  higher  than 
the  other;  that  he  wanted  to  get  down  to  sea  level  and 
straighten  himself  up.  He  said  a  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars was  enough  for  him  anyhow,  was  as  much  as  he 
could  handle,  and  he  was  willing  for  those  accustomed 
to  big  things  to  make  the  balance. 

The  expert  inquired:  "His  the  mine  hon  the  sunny 
hor  shaded  side  hof  the  'ill  ?" 

Mr.  Cass  answered  that  about  all  of  the  claims  were 
on  the  shaded  side,  but  all  of  their  workings  were  on  a 
high  knoll  on  the  sunny  side  and  that  they  expected 
to  work  tunnels  into  the  shaded  side  from  here.  Mr. 
Hinkley  continued:  "It  is  only  a  mile  and  a  half  up 
there ;  I  shall  bring  up  a  gentle  horse  in  the  morning  and 
we  will  go  up  and  see  it.  We  can  get  back  before  noon." 


304  THE  PILGRIM 

The  expert  answered:  "No,  no,  I  x  would  not  go 
hacross  the  street  for  hall  the  mines  hon  the  shaded 
side  of  the  'ill  hon  Cascade  Creek.  Hexcuse  me  from  this 
pleasant  trip.  Hi  want  no  Mineral  Farm  hon  the  shaded 
side  hof  the  'ill." 

Irritated  and  discouraged,  Mr.  Hinkley  sarcastically 
replied : 

"  I  — ,  we  have  it  at  last,  we  have  the  real  thing! 
the  expert  with  red  leggins  on,  on  the  ground,  sent  from 
a  foreign  land  to  report  on  the  value  of  mines,  who  really 
believes  that  silver  grows  on  trees  like  persimmons.  I 
suppose  you  think,  my  Christian  friend,  that  the  old 
women  about  sundown  get  buckets  of  water  and  sticks 
and  go  to  the  silver  plant  beds  and  draw  the  scions  as 
you  would  cabbage  plants,  find  a  rich  loajny  place,  make 
holes  with  their  sticks,  put  the  silver  plants  in,  water 
them  and  squeeze  the  dirt  tight  around  the  roots,  then 
follow  this  up  with  the  hoe  and  irrigation  ditch  till  fall, 
then  go  out  and  harvest  the  crop  of  silver  as  you  would 
a  crop  of  luscious  grapes?  This  is  not  called  the  'Min- 
eral Farm'  because  you  have  to  plow,  hoe,  or  irrigate  the 
silver  crop,  but  because  Mr.  Cass  found  a  good  group 
of  veins  here  covering  forty  acres  of  ground,  or  enough 
for  a  good  farm,  and  symbolized  the  territory  with  this 
indicative  name.  You  need  not  be  afraid  to  go  up  there. 
Mr.  Cass  hasn't  a  yoke  of  leviathans  and  a  colossal  plow 
to  which  he  might  impress  your  services,  neither  will  he 
put  you  to  irrigating  the  silver  plants  or  clearing  the 
jungle  that  the  sunlight  may  dissolve  and  disseminate 
the  stimulating  carbonic  acid  in  his  silver  orchard.  We 
neither  clear  the  jungle  nor  irrigate  the  silver  mines  here, 
even  if  some  of  them  are  called  farms.  I  have  heard  old 


AND  THE  PIONEER  305 

pioneers  say  experts  were  sent  here  in  early  days  that  did 
not  know  a  mine  from  a  mill-site,  but  you  are  the  original 
expert  who  teaches  that  irrigation  and  sunshine  are  essen- 
tial to  the  development  of  a  silver  mine,  or  I  might  say 
you  are  the  first  expert  we  have  entertained  that  does  not 
know  a  mine  from  a  cabbage  patch.  The  miners  of  Ouray 
should  build  a  monument  over  your  tomb  and  place  on 
your  headstone:  'The  pioneer  in  the  irrigation  and  culti- 
vation of  mining  claims.' ' 

The  Englishman  said,  "Hi  ham  not  so  sure  hof  the 
force  hof  your  logic  has  hi  ham  hof  your  hirony.  Why 
his  hit  that  so  many  mines  'ave  been  barren  huntil  water 
his  reached,  hif  mineral  claims  do  not  require  hirrigation  ? 
Why  his  hit  that  so  many  hof  the  great  mines  hof  Nor- 
way, Germany,  North  and  South  Hamerica  hare  hunder 
water,  hif  flooding  does  not  benefit  mineral  claims? 
Does  not  water  'ave  ha  beneficial  haffect  hon  the  sea  salts 
hand  hacids  that  so  stimulates  hand  gathers  silver  hinto 
the  bug  holes  hand  crevices  ?  The  'eat  hand  light  hof  the 
sun  his  quite  mysterious.  Why  does  the  'ouse  plant  pro- 
duce hits  best  flowers  hon  the  side  next  to  the  window, 
hif  the  sunlight  hon  vegetation  does  not  beneficially 
haffect  hit  ?  Hin  many  ways  hit  has  a  more  mysterious  haf- 
fect  hon  the  mineral  kingdom.  Put  ha  lump  hof  common 
table  salt  hin  ha  glass  hof  water.  Set  the  glass  hout  hin 
the  sun  hand  halmost  himmediately  salt  crystals  begin  to 
form,  but  why  hargue  this  further.  Hi  will  hask  hagain 
why  should  not  the  'eat  and  light  hof  the  sun  'ave  ha 
material  haffect  hin  converting  the  cruder  minerals  hinto 
silver  ?  You  reply,  'Ow  can  you  prove  hit  ?'  Hi  say, 
"See  which  side  hof  the  'ill  your  pay  mines  hare  hon.' ' 

The  next  morning  the  mining  expert  took  the  out- 

THK  PILGRIM.— 20 


306  THE  PILGRIM 

going  coach  for  home.  He  told  Mr.  Wickham  before 
he  left  that  he  could  not  advise  his  client  to  buy  the 
Kuklux  mine  because  "Hit  was  hon  the  shaded  side  hof 
the  'ill,  you  know." 

The  Pioneer  looked  about  him  for  a  moment, 
then  muttered  to  himself,  "A  few  more  wild  escapades 
like  this  would  not  only  soften  and  fill  the  old  creases  in 
my  brain,  but  would  start  others  in  new  places." 

The  defeat  of  the  sale  of  the  Kuklux  by  the  "back- 
capper"  seemed  to  depress  him  and  render  him  more  quiet 
and  sedate.  The  "Holy  Creed"  was  not  working  well. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

CROSSING  SNEFFLES  RANGE. 

The  Pioneer  had  spent  a  restless  night.  Before 
rising  from  his  bed  he  said,  "Mr.  Campbell,  I  am  loath 
to  retrace  my  steps  just  yet.  I  should  like  to  go  further 
among  these  cloud-capped  peaks  and  try  to  harmonize 
my  physical  with  my  mental  self.  The  tyrannical  mind 
arrogantly  persists  in  obtruding  melancholy,  pessimistic 
thoughts  about  the  bygones  of  a  misspent  past,  through 
the  ramifications  of  a  wearied  and  protesting  brain,  with 
such  a  monotonous  persistency,  that  when  the  cells  of  this 
jaded  organ  collapse,  the  parasitic  hosts  are  invited  to 
occupy  the  degenerate  parts  so  that  replacement  is  well 
nigh  impossible.  The  nervous,  abnormal  mind  is  like  a 
howling  mob ;  it  will  obey  no  command  to  halt,  but  may 
be  diverted  to  some  other  exciting  feat.  Let's  push  on  into 
the  untamed  wilds  on  a  little  brain-scattering  and  foot- 
hardening  expedition.  It  will  be  a  mutual  benefit."  Mr. 
Campbell  assented.  At  six  o'clock  the  chiming  of  many 
bells  called  the 'guests  to  the  hotel  windows.  Hundreds 
of  little  jacks  and  jennies,  called  in  this  country  "bur- 
ros," were  loaded  with  provisions,  Spanish-fashion,  baled- 
hay,  lumber,  iron  rods,  track  iron,  etc.,  and  were  being 
prodded  up  toward  the  range  by  individuals  designated 
here  as  burro-punchers.  About  one  out  of  every  dozen 
burros  had  a  bell  on  and  led  a  division.  These  little 
fellows  carry  an  average  of  200  pounds  each,  or  ten  of 
them  carry  a  ton,  and  they  have  been  as  invaluable  in 

(307) 


308  THE  PILGRIM 

the  development  of  the  mines  in  the  precipitous  Rocky 
Mountains  as  the  dromedary  has  been  in  the  development 
of  the  arid  regions  of  the  Orient. 

These  indispensable  burros  have  a  little  frame  called 
a  pack-saddle  buckled  upon  their  backs,  covered  with  rings 
and  ropes  with  which  to  tie  the  load  securely,  with  a 
crupper  under  the  tail  and  a  breast  strap  attached  to  the 
front  of  the  saddle,  so  the  load  cannot  slip. 
Many  of  these  little  animals  were  loaded  that  morning 
with  long  iron  bars  and  lumber  from  twelve  to  fifteen 
feet  long.  One  end  of  these  bars  and  lumber  is  fastened 
to  the  side  of  the  saddle,  about  an  equal  amount  on  each 
side,  and  the  burro  walks  between  the  boards  or  bars 
of  iron,  one  end  of  the  same  dragging  after  him  on  the 
ground,  to  the  general  terror  of  passing  horses  and  sensi- 
tive human  ears. 

These  useful  packers  are  rarely  fed  at  night  or  at 
other  times.  When  idle  they  are  turned  out  on  the  hills 
or  in  the  towns  to  hustle  for  a  living.  They  will  hang 
around  back  doors  and  eat  scraps  like  dogs. 

About  seven  o'clock  A.  M.  the  Judge  campaigning 
for  the  senate,  Dr.  Hawley,  Mr.  Campbell,  Mr.  Wickham, 
and  two  courageous  women,  mounted  on  the  backs  of 
faithful  bronchos,  or  mountain  ponies,  and  headed  for 
Telluride.  The  air  was  clear,  sharp,  and  dry,  and  the  trail 
was  very  steep,  narrow,  and  rough  up  Cascade  Creek,  but 
these  little  ponies  glided  along  at  a  good  clip  until  they 
caught  up  with  the  train  of  burros  with  their  jingling 
bells  and  the  scraping  and  dragging  of  the  boards  and 
iron  bars  over  the  ground  and  rough  rocks.  TJie  riders 
could  not  get  the  horses  in  the  neighborhood  of  them, 
much  less  past  them,  but  even  if  their  ponies  had  not  been 
afraid  of  this  burro-train  they  could  not  have  gotten  ahead 


AND  THE  PIONEER  309 

of  them  for  miles  because  of  the  narrowness  of  the  trail. 
The  party  climbed  around  the  precipitous  trail  and  finally 
reached  Porter's^  the  supply  point  for  the  great  Virginia 
group  of  mines.  Between  here  and  the  summit  it  is  very 
steep,  and  in  many  places  the  trail  was  a  sheet  of  ice. 
They  alighted  and  led  their  horses.  About  half  way  up 
the  steep  hill,  just  before  reaching  the  summit,  Dr.  Haw- 
ley's  horse  slipped  off  the  trail  and  tumbled  over  and  over 
until  he  reached  comparatively  smooth  ground  a  hundred 
feet  below.  He  was  so  badly  crippled  that  he  could  not 
go  on.  He  was  relieved  of  saddle  and  briddle  and  turned 
out  to  look  after  himself.  When  they  reached  the  sum- 
mit of  the  famous  Mount  Sneffles  range,  so  named  for 
Prof.  Sneffles  of  the  Hayden  Geological  Survey,  they  could 
truly  say  that  they  were  standing  in  the  midst  of  a  cluster 
of  the  richest  mines  in  the  world.  Just  behind  them  were 
the  Terrible,  the  Monongahela,  and  the  famous  Virginia 
group ;  a  little  to  their  left  the  Matchless,  and  the  Camp- 
bird  group;  in  front  of  them  the  Sheridan  TJnion,  Men- 
dota,  Tom  Boy,  Cimarron,  and  many  other  valuable  mines 
in  the  Virginius,  Tmogene  and  Marshall  basins. 

The  altitude  at  this  point  is  from  13000  to  14000 
feet  above  sea  level,  thereby  rendering  the  air  so  light 
and  devoid  of  oxygen  that  it  makes  one  weak,  light-headed, 
and  short  of  breath,  and  several  of  the  party  bled  at  the 
nose.  From  here  their  pace  down  the  trail  was  gauged 
by  the  footman  for  the  first  two  miles  and  after  this  by 
a  long  burro-train  loaded  with  ore  from  the  Sheridan. 
Each  of  these  little  animals  had  200  pounds  of  ore,  a 
100  pound  sack  fastened  on  each  side  of  his 
saddle.  They  are  so  inclined  to  fight  and  crowd  for  the 
possession  of  the  trail,  that  the  bronchos  did  not  feel  safe 
in  trying  to  crowd  around  them  on  the  narrow  path. 


310  THE  PILGRIM 

Early  in  the  afternoon  they  reached  Pandora,  the  head 
of  San  Miguel  River,  one  and  a  half  miles  above  Tel- 
luride.  It  was  a  most  bright  and  sunny  day  and  only  a 
little  after  noon,  but  no  sun  was  in  sight.  They  asked 
a  resident  if  the  sun  did  not  shine  upon  the  people  of 
Pandora  as  well  as  upon  other  people  in  Colorado.  He 
answered : 

"No,  we  do  not  get  our  part  of  God's  sunshine,  but 
I  do  not  know  who  else  can  help  us.  The  sun  will  have 
to  be  raised  or  the  cliffs  lowered  to  relieve  us.  We  have 
but  little  sunshine  in  this  dark  gorge  now,  and  during 
the  shortest  days  in  the  year,  but  thirty  minutes  during 
any  one  day." 

From  this  point  for  four  miles  down  the  river,  in- 
cluding the  town-site  of  Tellur'ide,  the  ground  is  compar- 
atively level,  furnishing  fine  mill-sites  and  building- 
sites.  South  of  Pandora  is  a  most  beautiful  water-fall,  with 
chaste  bridal  veils  and  towering  cliffs  on  either  side. 
Telluride  has  been  from  its  first  location  one  of  the  best 
mining  towns  in  the  West,  and  has  always  been  self-sus- 
taining from  the  products  of  its  mines,  farms,  and  ranges. 
It,  like  all  of  these  mining  towns,  is  surrounded  by  gi- 
gantic mountains  of  great  beauty  and  has  a  splendid  class 
of  cultivated  and  intelligent  citizens. 

A  large  crowd  met  the  Judge  at  the  south  margin 
of  the  town  and  escorted  him  to  the  American  House, 
where  they  all  put  up  for  the  night. 

A  temporary  stand  was  erected  at  the  corner  near 
the  hotel,  a  large  crowd  gathered  at  7 :30  in  the  evening, 
and  the  Judge  was  introduced.  He  showed  from  the  be- 
ginning that  he  was  desperate.  There  was  no  stopping 
or  diversion  tonight  from  the  prearranged  line  of  argu- 
ment, for  the  purpose  of  sympathizing  with  freezing 


AND  THE  PIONEER  311 

auditors  as  he  had  done  the  night  before  in  Ouray,  thus 
spoiling  his  set  speech.  He  started  in  by  saying :  "Ladies 
and  gentlemen,  I,  with  three  other  gentlemen  and  two 
ladies,  have  ridden  across  this  knife  blade  trail  from  Ouray 
and  am  somewhat  tired,  but  I  want  to  say  in  passing 
that  any  woman  who  will  ride  over  that  knife  blade  trail 
once,  ought  to  go  to  Heaven  without  any  further  qualifica- 
tion; and  any  man  who  will  ride  over  this  trail  twice 

ought  to  go  to on  general  principles." 

The  crowd  yelled  and  whooped  and  so  inspired  the 
candidate  that  mind  and  memory  held  up  bright  and 
sparkling  from  prelude  to  peroration,  and  he  made  a 
great  oratorical  effort. 

After  the  speaking  the  politicians  took  the  Judge 
from  saloon  to  saloon,  and  he  treated  the  crowd,  and  by 
easy  gradations  the  people  were  becoming  comparatively 
tipsy.  About  twelve  o'clock  the  crowd  reached  the  hotel, 
which  had  a  bar  attachment.  The  candidate  and  others 
were  introduced  and  he  gave  his  last  treat  of  the  evening 
to  the  semi-intoxicated  crowd;  among  the  introduc- 
tions John  Taylor,  of  Silverton,  was  introduced  to 
John  Taylor,  of  Paradox  Valley.  They  instantly 
trumped  up  a  kinship,  each  tracing  his  lineage  back  to  a 
famous  hero  of  the  common  name.  They  took  another 
drink  on  the  new  discovery,  then  almost  doubled  in  one  an- 
other's arms. 

John  Taylor  of  Paradox  Valley  said  to  John 
Taylor  of  Silverton,  "John,  we  are  going  to  have  a 
fair  down  at  Paradox  next  week;  come  down  and  make 
a  speech." 

John  Taylor,  of  Silverton,  with  a  sneer,  answered: 
"What  do  I  want  to  make  a  speech  for?  I  made  all  of 


312  THE  PILGRIM 

my  speeches  for  glory  when  I  was  a  young  man.  It  takes 
cash  to  get  talk  out  of  me  now." 

"Then  come  down  and  see  the  fair  without  making 
a  speech.  We  have  fine  fairs  down  there." 

"I  don't  want  to  see  your  little  fair.  I  at- 
tended one  of  those  little  cross-roads  fairs  down  in  Ala- 
bama once,  and  they  didn't  have  anything  but  one  big 
pumpkin  and  a  big  Durham  bull,  and  the  bull  got  loose, 
ate  up  the  pumpkin,  and  broke  up  the  fair." 

John  Taylor  of  Paradox  indignantly  arose,  walked 
into  the  office,  told  the  crowd  that  there  was  not 
"a  single  drop  of  Zachariah  Taylor's  blood  in  that 
fellow's  veins.  He's  an  imposter,  a  part  of  the  poor 
possum-eating  white  trash  of  the  white  crawfish  beds  of 
Alabama,  where  there  is  neither  good  blood  nor  good 
breeding.  The  negroes  would  not  associate  with  him  down 
there.  That  fellow  is  the  very  trashiest  of  the  poor 
white  trash  found  in  the  blackjack  thickets,  where  the 
ground  is  so  poor  that  it  won't  sprout  a  'goober  pea.'  He's 
no  kinfolks  of  mine  I'll  tell  you." 

Mr.  Wickham  and  Mr.  Campbell  were  assigned  one 
bed  in  the  parlor,  Mr.  Joh,n  Taylor  of  Silverton  the 
other  bed  in  the  parlor,  and  Mrs.  Eugene  West  of  Silver- 
ton,  a  friend  of  Mr.  Taylor's,  a  room  opening  into  the 
parlor. 

Mr.  Taylor  and  Mr.  West  had  volunteered  to 
pilot  the  Pilgrim  and  the  Pioneer  over  the  mountain 
trail  by  way  of  Ames  and  Ophir  the  next  morning,  on  their 
way  home.  The  travelers  mutually  agreed  to  get  up  at 
7  o'clock  A.  M.,  eat  their  breakfast  and  hurry  off.  About 
one  o'clock  A.  M.  Mr.  West  suggested  that  they  retire. 
All  consented  except  Mr.  Taylor,  who  insisted  that 
they  were  in  the  shank  of  the  evening  and  that  he  would 


AND  THE  PIONEER  313 

go  over  and  chance  a  few  spots  on  the  faro  table,  then  he 
would  follow,  and  suggested  to  Mr.  Wickham  that  he 
leave  a  light  burning.  The  building  had  an  open  stair- 
way going  up  from  the  street.  All  of  the  party  except 
Mr.  Taylor  retired  and  went  to  sleep. 

A  little  after  dawn  the  next  morning,  Mr.  Taylor 
came  staggering  in,  found  his  bed  occupied,  stood  over 
the  occupant,  and  said :  "This  is  an  imposition.  I  paid 
for  this  bed.  T  come  to  it  and  find  a  man  in  it  as  big  as  a 
horse." 

The  man  began  to  jabber,  swing  his  arms,  and  try  to 
get  up  to  fight;  but — poor  fellow!  he  staid  with  the  poli- 
ticians too  long  last  night ;  he  can't  make  it. 

Mr.  Taylor  stood  like  a  leaning  statue  over  him  as 
he  struggled,  and  said,  "Yes,  you  usurper  you,  turn  over 
again." 

He  then  walked  over  to  the  door  leading  into 
Mr.  West's  room,  and  knocking  on  the  door,  said,  "O, 
Eugene!"  The  nervous  reply  rang  out,  "Yes,  yes,  I 
will  get  up  right  away.  Is  it  seven  o'clock  ?" 

"Seven  o'clock,  thunder.  I  want  to  go  to  bed.  I 
find  a  stranger  in  my  bed  as  big  as  a  horse.  T  don't 
want  to  get  in  with  him.  How  do  T  know  but  that  he 
would  inoculate  me  with  some  loathsome  disease.  T  want 
to  sleep  with  you." 

Mr.  West  opened  the  door.  Mr.  Taylor  walked 
in,  undressed,  then  came  back  into  the  parlor  and  looked 
on  the  piano,  in  the  closet,  around  the  bed  and  every- 
where, like  a  superstitious  old  woman  hunting  a  ghost  or 
a  bad  man  in  the  room,  and  at  last  in  disgust  he  went 
back  and  leaned  over  the  stranger  and  said,  "Yes,  you 
usurper,  you  were  not  satisfied  with  getting  into 
my  bed,  but  you  had  to  get  into  my  night-shirt,  eh  ?" 


314  THE  PILGRIM 

The  drunken  man  began  to  jabber,  swing  his  limber 
arms,  and  try  to  rise,  but  he  was  harmless.  With  a  con- 
temptuous grating  of  the  teeth  Mr.  Taylor  said : 

"Yes,  turn  over  again,  you  usurper." 

This  command  and  the  accusation  were  a  little  too 
far  fetched  as  the  poor  limber  fellow  had  not  recently 
turned  over  and  could  not  turn  over,  and  he  had  not 
pulled  off  his  mining  boots,  let  alone  hunting  for  a  soft, 
clean  night-shirt,  but  poor  Mr.  Taylor's  eyes  were  so 
blurred  that  he  could  not  distinguish  a  silk  night-shirt 
from  a  canvas  overcoat. 

Mr.  Taylor  went  to  bed  with  Mr.  West,  but 
in  a  very  short  time  the  clerk  knocked  on  the  doors,  and 
said,  "It  is  seven  o'clock." 

Mr.  Taylor  got  up,  came  back  in  the  parlor,  found 
his  valise  and  night-shirt  untouched,  went  up  and 
leaned  over  his  tormentor  and  said,  sneeringly,  "Yes,  you 
usurpers,  there  are  two  of  you,  are  there?  Ah,  ha!  you 
doubled-teamed  on  me,  did  you  ?  When  I  made  that  bold, 
bad  break  here  last  night,  I  thought  I  was  talking  to 
one  lone,  solitary  individual." 

The  drunken  man  struggled  to  arise,  but  he  was  not 
equal  to  the  task.  Mr.  Taylor,  in  contempt,  said : 

"Yes,  turn  over  again  you  usurper."  He 
went  to  the  office  and  complained  about  their  giving  up 
his  bed  to  others. 

The  clerk  indignantly  denied  having  done  any  such 
1;hing  and  said,  "Now,  you  wait  till  I  come  back."  The 
clerk  tripped  up  stairs  and  down  again,  and  slipping  up 
to  the  side  of  Mr.  Taylor  and  his  friend,  said : 

"Sh — ,  that  is  the  desperate  Pat  O'Shea,  a  former 
lieutenant  of  General  Mosby.  He  was  the  most  fearless 


AND   THE   PIONEER  315 

and  desperate  character  in  his  command,  and  he  has 
with  him  a  desperate  chum.  They  go  loaded  down  with 
six-shooters  and  dirk  knives,  and  as  soon  as  they  get  sober 
enough  to  handle  themselves,  if  they  should  hear  you  had 
said  a  thing  about  their  wandering  up  there,  they  would 
cut  your  tongue  out  with  their  butcher  knives." 

"Then  it  behooves  me  to  take  a  cup  of  coffee  and 
shake  the  dust  of  Telluride  from  my  feet  before  king 
alcohol  takes  his  hobbles  off  their  limbs.  Say  clerk,  you 
tell  them  I  said  I  was  glad  they  occupied  my  bed,  as  I 
was  out  all  night  in  a  little  game  of  draw  and  I  did  not 
need  or  want  it,  any  way." 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

THE  LITTLE  SALAMANDER. 

At  eight  o'clock,  as  per  agreement,  the  travelers 
moved  off  down  the  San  Miguel  River  for  a  mile  and  a 
half,  then  across  the  high  grassy  mesa  to  Ames,  Ophir, 
Trout  Lake,  and  Lizzard  Head,  on  to  Rico  on  the  Dolores 
River,  and  to  Mancos  Canon. 

When  they  reached  the  summit  of  the  high,  grassy 
mesa  ahout  9,000  feet  above  sea  level,  they  stopped  at  a 
well  equipped,  round  pole  ranch  house  to  get  a  drink  of 
water,  and  were  surprised  to  see  what  they  grew  there 
in  the  way  of  fodder  and  vegetables.  There  were  oat-stalks 
six  feet  high,  timothy  to  their  armpits,  barley  waist  high, 
and  cabbage,  turnips,  raddishes,  and  other  hardy  vege- 
tables almost  as  sweet,brittle,and  juicy  as  Michigan  apples ; 
the  mesa  was  covered  with  a  luxuriant  crop  of  nutritious 
bunch-grass,  and  while  it  looked  like  a  cold,  bleak,  and 
lonesome  place  to  live,  the  people  seemed  contented  and 
happy.  They  said : 

"This  ground  and  these  cows  are  all  paid  for  and 
this  is  our  home." 

What  a  sweet  thought!  What  an  expressive  word, 
even  under  these  hard  environments ! 

They  soon  climbed  around  Ames  and  up  to  Ophir. 
Every  one  here  had  his  pockets  loaded  with  glittering 
gold  specimens,  and  all  had  prospects  to  sell,  and  all  of 
them  seemed  to  feel  certain  that  this  was  the  best  gold 
mining  camp  in  the  Rocky  Mountains.  They  have  many 
things  to  back  up  such  a  belief.  However,  the  thing  that 

(317) 


318  THE  PILGRIM 

most  attracted  their  attention  was  the  beautiful  Trout 
Lake  set  in  the  top  of  this  lofty  mountain  10,000  feet 
above  the  sea  level,  like  a  great  solitaire  jewel,  and  studded 
with  the  high  peaks  on  the  east,  and  Mount  Wilson 
on  the  west.  The  lake  is  a  mile  long  by  a  half  mile 
wide  and  of  an  unfathomed  depth.  Enthusiastic  anglers 
were  around  the  margin,  landing  the  beautiful  trout  on 
every  side.  This  splendid  body  of  water,  large  enough 
to  float  a  warship,  is  severed  from  all  possibility  of  fish 
passing  between  lake  and  waters  below  by  some  precipitous 
falls,  and  Mr.  Wickham  asked  the  most  natural  question, 
"When  and  how  did  these  fish  get  into  this  lake?" 

An  old,  gray-headed  angler  asked: 

"Will  you  allow  a  Maine  Yankee  to  answer  you  by 
asking  a  question  ?" 

"O,  certainly." 

"Then,"  said  the  old  man,  "tell  me  when  and  how 
the  fish  got  into  the  oceans  ?" 

Mr.  Wickham  replied :  "If  we  take  the  Bible  view, 
God  put  them  in ;  if  we  take  the  view  of  Huxley,  Tyndall, 
and  others,  certain  conditions  in  nature  evolved  them." 

The  old  man  scratched  his  head  and  suggested,  "I 
am  no  Bible  scholar,  but  if  God  did  make  these  fish 
and  scatter  them  around  on  the  fifth  day  of  that  big 
week's  job, — and  I  believe  he  retired  from  the  animal  in- 
dustry and  work  as  a  common  day  laborer  after  that  week 
— then  why  shouldn't  he  have  flipped  a  handful  into  Trout 
Lake  while  he  was  throwing  them  thousands  of  miles 
around  him  into  the  big  oceans  ?  Or  who  knows  but  that 
when  he  started  to  toss  a  big  shovelful  into  the  mighty 
oceans  on  Mars,  some  sixty  million  miles  away,  that  a  few 
might  not  have  slipped  off  his  shovel  and  fallen  back  into 
Trout  Lake  ?  Now,  I  don't  know  nothing  about  'Huxter,' 


AND  THE  PIONEER  319 

'Tyddell,'  'Darnell  &  Co./  because  I've  got  no  book  lam- 
ing, but  I  have  some  horse  sense  and  that  tells  me  to  ask 
if  these  scabs  have  chisseled  God  out  of  his  job  of  making 
and  distributing  fish,  and  they  just  take  a  little  hot  mud. 
without  father,  mother,  seed,  egg  or  anything  else,  and 
make  these  fish  on  the  ground,  then  what  is  the  matter 
with  Trout  Lake  mud?  Or,  are  they  and  God  like  the 
legislature,  just  got  time  enough  to  look  after  the  big 
ponds  and  the  big  fish  ?  Now,  sir,  I'd  like  to  know  what 
trail  you  think  these  fish  came  in  on?"  With  an  under- 
shot, and  a  wink  of  his  left  eye  to  his  brother  Anglers, 
he  set  himself  with  self-satisfaction  to  see  Mr.  Wickham 
untie  some  of  these  zoological  knots. 

"Well,  really,  my  friend/'  replied  the  Pioneer,  "I 
am  not  much  of  a  naturalist  or  scientist,  but  I  should  say, 
in  all  probability,  some  wild  goose  or  wild  duck,  ages  ago, 
in  wadding  around  in  the  hatching  grounds  in  some  of 
the  streams  below  got  some  of  the  spawn  or  fish-eggs  on  or 
tangled  in  their  web  feet,  flew  up  here,  shed  them,  and  they 
hatched  in  the  lake ;  or  perchance  some  kingfisher  or  other 
bird  grasped  a  live  fish  below,  flew  up  here  and  lost  it 
in  the  lake  in  time  for  the  water  to  resuscitate  it;  these 
are  my  crude  ideas,  but  I  don't  know,  I  am  sure." 

The  old  man  winked  at  the  anglers,  pulled  his  line 
out  of  the  water,  then  turned  and  looked  squarely  in  the 
face  of  Mr.  Wickham,  and  inquired:  "And  how  did 
the  fish  get  into  the  lakes  on  top  of  Grand  Mesa  and  the 
others,  miles  and  miles  from  fish  streams  ?  How  did  they 
get  into  these  streams  ?  You  may  say  they  came  up  from 
Grand  River;  then  I  would  ask,  'Where  did  those  in  the 
Grand  come  from?'  You  would  say,  'From  the  Green;' 
then  I  would  say,  'Where  did  those  in  the  Green  come 
from?'  You  would  say,  'From  the  Colorado;'  I  would 


320  %  THE  PILGRIM 

ask,  'Where  did  they  come  from?'  You  would  answer, 
'From  the  Gulf  of  California.7  I  would  ask,  'Where  did 
those  in  the  Gulf  come  from?'  You  would  reply,  'From 
the  ocean.'  Then  we  would  be  back  to  my  first  question, 
how  and  when  were  the  fish  put  into  the  ocean  \  — which 
you  have  not  answered.  I  say  there  are  no  speckled 
mountain  trout  in  any  of  the  big  rivers,  gulf,  or  ocean." 

Mr.  Wickham  continued:  "My  individual  opinion 
in  the  great  economy  of  nature  is  that  under  certain  con- 
ditions certain  animals  evolve,  and  under  other  conditions 
they  a»e  transformed  irom  one  grade  to  another,  the  ten- 
dency being  for  the  ascension  towards  the  higher  type." 

"Now,  partner,"  answered  the  old  man:  "You  have 
really  said  something;  that's  my  doctrine  to  a  'T.'  Over 
in  the  Montezuma  Valley  I  have  had  a  real  experimental 
station.  When  the  Indians  were  moved  out  of  there  I 
went  down  and  got  me  a  ranch.  A  company  built  a  big 
canal  around  the  hill  just  above  it.  There  was  a  big  basin 
covering  about  six  acres  of  my  ground,  full  of  alkali  and 
covered  with  grease  wood,  and  nothing  else  would  grow 
there.  The  water  seeped  from  the  ditch  into  this  basin 
and  it  was  as  clear  as  crystal  at  first,  but  when  the  sun 
got  right  hot  and  that  water  became  rotten-like,  it  became 
literally  black  with  tadpoles.  I  used  to  watch  them  swim 
with  their  long  tails  and  breathe  through  their  gills  just 
like  so  many  fish,  and  by  and  by  legs  sprouted  at  the  root 
of  their  tails  and  seemed  to  absorb  all  the  nutriment  of 
the  body  that  wandered  back  that  away,  and  their  tails 
just  rotted  off.  Then  the  gills  disappeared  and  those  ani- 
mals went  ashore  and  just  changed  from  water  to  land 
animals." 

"  'That  was  edolution,'  suggested  Dr.  Cady. 

"  'Edolution  you  foot !'  he  said,  'it's  a  fact' !     Then  I 


AND  THE  PIONEER  321 

went  down  to  the  lower  end  with  my  scythe  one  day  to 
cut  some  cat-tails,  and  the  whole  bottom  of  the  lake  was 
covered  with  little  animals  about  six  or  eight  inches  long; 
they  were  dark  and  spotted,  and  just  the  image  of  these 
mountain  trout  I  just  called  Martha  down  and  said, 
'Look  a-here,  I  golly,  weVe  got  a  million  of  fish  in  this 
pond;'  and  we  admired  them  awhile,  then  I  shot  my 
scythe  into  the  water,  and  drew  one  ashore,  and  behold 
he  had  legs.  I  took  him  over  to  Dr.  Cady,  and  he  got  down 
his  books  and  said:  'Zoologists  call  that  a  water-dog  or 
little  salamander,  but/  said  he,  'that  looks  more  like  a 
fish  than  any  one  I  have  ever  seen ;  in  fact  if  he  did  not 
have  those  feet  I  should  call  him  a  fish.  When  they  are 
young  they  breathe  with  gills  and  swim  like  a  fish  and 
they  change  and  reproduce  injured  parts  as  rapidly  as  a 
fast  growing  tree.  If  a  foot  is  cut  off  it  grows  right  back ; 
put  an  eye  out,  a  new  one  grows;  cut  one's  tail  off  and  a 
new  one  grows  on.  It  would  not  take  much  of  a  stretch 
of  the  imagination  to  presume  that  this  very  pliable  little 
animal  might  be  converted  into  a  mountain  trout' ': 

"I  said:  'Look  a-here,  doctor,  I  have  a  suspicion 
that  under  some  conditions  of  the  water  and  heat,  this 
fellow  makes  a  fish.  If  you  have  noticed,  the  mountain 
trout  has  its  color,  it  is  sleek  and  without  scales  just  like 
this  salamander,  as  you  call  it,  and  when  you  cut  open 
this  trout  you  can  just  take  hold  of  the  tail  and  lift  the 
back  bone  from  it  with  the  little  projecting  bones  on  each 
side  like  a  coarse  comb,  and  then  there  is  not  another 
bone  in  it.  Its  bones  are  just  as  I  would  imagine  this 
fellow's  carcass  looks.' ' 

"Dr.  Cady  opened  his  book  and  said,  'See  here, 
Bob,  Mr.  Huxter  vol —  page —  has  two  pictures  here  which 
look  just  like  big  links  of  sausage  and  one  of  these  is  a 


322  THE  PILGRIM 

pup  in  the  formative  state,  and  the  other  a  child  in  the 
formative  state;  he  held  his  finger  over  the  names  and 
said,  'Guess  which  is  the  pup  and  which  the  child.' 

"I  said:  'If  one's  a  pup,  tother's  a  pup,  because 
they  are  just  the  same.' 

"He  answered:  'No;  one  of  these  is  a  pup  and 
the  other  is  a  child,  and  they  are  exactly  alike  in  the 
early  period.  See,  here,  Bob,  here  is  a  lot  of  buds 
on  this  young  body,  and  each  leg,  ear,  eye,  etc.,  is  like  a 
dim  eye  of  a  potato,  and  these  limbs  grow  out  just  like 

the  buds  and  limbs  of  a  tree,  and  here  at  page Mr. 

Huxter  says,  Human  beings,  pups,  chickens,  fish,  and 
everything  come  from  eggs  on  the  same  principle,  except 
in  one  case  the  egg  is  laid,  then  warmed  into  a  living 
animal  by  the  mother  sitting  on  it,  by  the  sun,  hot 
water,  etc.,  and  in  the  other  the  egg  develops  in  the  mother 
and  is  retained  and  warmed  into  a  living  animal,  but  in 
both  cases  the  egg  principle  prevails.'  ' 

"Says,  I,  'Look  a-here,  doctor,  I  don't  care  what  Mr. 
Huxter  or  any  one  else  says,  but  I  just  feel  that  rotten 
water  and  hot  sun  somehow  made  these  salamanders  and 
tadpoles  change  from  one  thing  to  another,  and  the  tails 
on  these  tadpoles  are  rotting  off  and  they  are  becoming 
beautiful  frogs;  here's  one  of  your  buds  which  grows  off 
instead  of  out,  and  the  salamander  sheds  its  skin  once  a 
week,  then  swallows  it,  thereby  identifying  the  species 
that  occasionally  turns  itself  outside  in;'  ' 

"Doctor  Cady  answered:  The  buds  of  the  oak-twig 
come  out  as  the  tadpole  tail  does,  grow  up  to  be  a  mighty 
oak,  which  sheds  its  old  limbs,  rejuvenates  itself  and 
throws  out  new  limbs  just  as  your  tadpole  does.' 

"  '  Yes,'  said  I,  'the  limbs  of  the  mighty  oak  do 
rot  and  fall  off  like  the  tails  of  the  tadpoles,  and  it  be- 


AND  THE  PIONEER  323 

comes  rejuvenated,  but  it  is  still  an  oak  and  continues  to 
bear  acorns;  it  is  not  converted  into  a  fig  tree  as  the  tad- 
pole is  into  the  frog;  I  really  believe  a  certain  con- 
dition of  this  water  would  produce  the  mountain  trout, 
and  I  am  suspicious  of  the  shape,  color,  size,  etc.,  of  these 
salamanders.  If  they  would  shed  their  legs  I  am  afraid 
I  should  be  eating  them.' 

"Dr.  Cady  answered :  'Well,  Bob,  it  was  an  unhappy 
illustration  that  I  made.  I  mixed  zoology  with  bot- 
tomry, and  they  are  hardly  mixable.  I  should  have  said 
the  shedding  of  the  tadpole's  tail  was  a  mere  matter  of 
edolution.' 

"I  replied,  'Edolution  be  darned,  it  really  took  place.' 

"  'O,'  said  the  doctor,  'I  meant  that  zoology  referred 
to  the  animal  kingdom,  and  bottomry  to  the  vegetable.' 

"I  replied,  'Now,  look  a-here,  doctor,  I  can  show  you 
something  just  as  wonderful  about  bottomry  as  you  call  it.' 

"Said  I,  'Before  that  basin  had  that  'ere  water  leaked 
in  there,  that  dry  parched  ground  made  grease  wood  grow 
fine  and  healthy,  but  not  a  blade  of  grass.  After  this  water 
staid  in  there  a  few  months,  and  the  ditch  was  shut  down 
three  months  to  repair,  the  water  dried  up,  the  grease 
wood  all  died,  because  it  is  supported  by  grease  in  the 
ground,  and  water  kills  it,  and  fox-tail  grass  grew  up  there 
until  it  looked  like  a  great  barley  field.  When  they 
finished  repairing  the  ditch  and  put  just  a  little  water  in 
it,  it  seeped  just  enough  in  my  lake  to  wet  my  feet  when 
walking  over  it.  In  six  mouths,  says  I,  every  stalk  of 
that  fox-tail  grass  rotted  and  a  stand  of  good  wire  grass 
grew  all  over  that  lake  as  thick  as  the  hair  on  a  dog's 
back,  and  I  cut  a  ton  and  a  half  of  hay  off  every  acre; 
that  'ere  ground  sunk  a  foot.  I  ditched  the  water  around 
onto  the  lower  end,  plowed  the  upper  end  and  made  a 


324  THE  PILGRIM 

spanking  crop  of  potatoes,  and  don't  you  know  within  six 
months  the  wire  grass  dried  out  and  cat-tails  came  up  as 
thick  as  wheat  in  a  field,  where  the  water  stood  constantly 
in  the  lower  end.' 

"Dr.  Cady  said,  'According  to  the  science  of 
bottomry,  seed  must  have  washed  or  blown  in  there  or 
you  couldn't  have  had  them  three  grasses  ?' 

"I  said,  'Now,  look  a-here,  doctor,  that  water  came 
from  the  snow  banks  just  above,  right  through  the  soil 
where  there  is  not  a  bunch  of  fox-tail,  wire  grass  or  cat- 
tails, and  there  was  no  place  for  them  to  blow  from,'  and 
I  said,  'Look  here,  doctor,  suppose  we  had  put  water  on 
every  acre  in  Montezuma  Valley  just  as  I  did  on  my  six 
acres,  and  that  the  fox-tail,  wire  grass,  and  cat-tails  should 
have  followed  one  another  like  they  did  in  my  place;  if 
they  came  from  seed  it  would  take  a  million  bushels  of 
seed,'  and  I  said,  'Now,  doctor,  you  look  at  your  bot- 
tomry books  and  see  why  the  adobe  flats  near  Montrose 
are  covered  with  fox-tail  grass ;  at  Chief  Ouray's  place  four 
miles  south,  there  are  hundreds  of  acres  of  thick,  wire 
grass;  five  miles  above  there,  just  as  thick  a  crop  of  blue 
stem ;  and  from  a  few  miles  above  there  to  this  point,  the 
country  is  covered  with  bunch  grass  when  none  of  it  has 
been  sowed  or  watered  ?'  Says  I,  'It  is  the  conditions  of 
the  soil,  the  amount  of  moisture,  the  elevation,  etc.,  that 
causes  the  change  from  one  kind  to  another,  and  some 
favorable  condition  produces  these  grasses  without  what  we 
call  grass  seed.' 

"I  told  Dr.  Cady  that  I  believed  I  could  get  a  patent 
on  reclaiming  this  here  'grease  wood'  ground,  from  my 
experience  with  that  bottom  and  with  these  grasses  and 
crops. 

"These  'grease  wood'  bushes  thrive,  without  water, 


AND  THE  PIONEER  325 

from  the  grease  and  alkali  in  the  soil,  and  nothing  else 
will  grow  under  these  special  conditions.  If  you  will  keep 
pouring  water  constantly  over  that  ground  for  from  twelve 
to  eighteen  months  it  will  dissolve,  kill  and  wash  out  so 
much  of  the  grease  and  alkali  that  the  'grease  wood'  will 
die,  a  crop  of  fox-tail  will  come  up  and  die,  and  the  puffy, 
heavily-alkalied  soil  will  run  together,  sink  down  mate- 
rially, develop  a  heavy  crop  of  wire  grass  good  for 
pasture  or  hay,  and  then  the  ground  may  be  plowed  up 
and  cultivated." 

"You  haven't  much  faith  in. book-men,  I  see,"  said 
Mr.  Wickham. 

"Now,  partner,  you  guessed  it  the  first  shot,  for  that's 
what  I  don't,  and  I'll  tell  you  why.  Some  eastern  men 
are  constantly  sending  young  chaps,  just  out  of  school,  to 
examine  our  mines.  They  bring  their  books  and  magni- 
fying glasses,  and  really  make  your  head  ache  with  their 
jaw-breaking  words.  If  we  have  a  poor  mine  we  are 
always  glad  to  see  them  fellows  come  as  they  are  about 
as  liable  to  make  a  favorable  report  on  a  poor  mine  as  on 
a  good  one,  but  if  we  have  a  good  claim  we  want  some 
good,  practical  miner  who  knows  a  good  mine  when  he 
sees  it  and  will  state  the  facts." 

Just  at  this  time  Old  John,  a  stuttering  liveryman 
from  Del  Norte,  came  riding  up.  All  this  time,  every 
few  minutes,  some  one  was  landing  a  speckled  beauty.  A 
resident  said  to  him,  "These  are  the  greatest  fishing 
grounds  in  the  state." 

Old  John  said :  "Pshaw,  I  have  caught  th-th-them  so 
f-f-fast  in  th-the  Eio  Grande  th-th-that  it  1- 
left  a  dry  hole  i-in  the  b-b-bottom  of  the  river." 

The  Pilgrim  and  the  Pioneer  hurried  around  Liz- 
ard Head — a  towering,  isolated  peak,  reaching  towards 


326  THE  PILGRIM 

the  clouds,  so  designated  by  the  government  explorers  be- 
cause it  was  tipped  with  a  symmetrical  brown-stone  statue 
of  a  huge  lizard. 

They  here  came  upon  an  old  miner  working  on  a  gold 
claim  in  close  proximity  to  a  big  lump  of  yellow  snow 
which  looked  as  if  it  had  lain  there  for  ages.  They  asked 
the  old  man  how  long  that  snow  had  been  there.  He 
said:  "Some  of  it  always,  I  reckon.  It  snows  here  any 
time  it  takes  the  notion.  The  worst  snow  storm  I  have 
been  caught  out  in  this  year  was  on  the  4th  of  last  July." 

The  Pilgrim  suggested,  "Is  that  not  the  place  you 
old-timers  tell  us  tenderfeet  about  where  we  can  gather 
flowers  with  one  hand  and  make  snow-balls  with  the 
other?" 

"Yes,  this  is  the  very  spot,"  said  the  old  man.  He 
dropped  his  shovel,  went  to  the  upper  end  of  the  snow- 
heap,  reached  out  with  one  hand  and  gathered  some  bine 
flags  and  columbines,  and  at  the  same  time  squeezed  an 
icy  snow-ball  with  the  other. 

"That  is  very  strange,"  said  Mr.  Campbell,  "but 
it  is  the  real  thing." 

"ISTo/  it  is  not  strange  when  you  understand  the 
philosophy  of  it.  Ice  freezes  here  every  night  in  the  year, 
and  yet,  in  mid-summer,  there  is  a  perfect  carpet  of  wild 
flowers.  The  ordinary  frost  or  freeze  is  not  injurious  to 
these  hardy  varieties.  The  snow  lies  in  shady  nooks  all 
through  the  year.  The  air  here  is  so  rarefied  that  it  holds 
no  perceptible  moisture,  and  therefore  it  cannot  absorb 
any  of  the  heat  of  the  sun,  hence  its  rays  go  through 
the  air  unobstructed  into  the  earth,  or  into  your  hands 
or  face,  if  it  can  get  at  you,  and  will  bake  you  brown, 
or  blister  you,  quicker  than  it  will  in  a  tropical  or  semi- 


AND  THE  PIONEER  327 

tropical  climate.  The  air,  not  being  capable  of  absorb- 
ing the  heat  of  the  sun,  cannot  become  hot  or  even  warm, 
hence  the  snow  will  melt  only  where  the  rays  of  the  sun 
can  pierce  it.  That  which  is  protected  in  the  shaded 
nooks  never  melts;  but  where  the  sun's  rays  pierce  the 
earth,  flowers  burst  forth,  and  where  the  shaded  and 
sunny  spots  are  found  in  such  close  proximity,  you  will 
find  the  snow  and  the  flowers.  For  this  reason  it  is  never 
hot  in  the  shade  in  a  dry,  rarefied  atmosphere,  where  the 
air  does  not  get  hot,  and  for  the  same  reason  the  nights 
are  very  cool ;  and  the  nights  nearly  always  being  clear, 
the  earth's  crust  cools  off  very  quickly  after  the  sun  goes 
down.  The  sun's  rays  are  as  hot  in  Colorado  as  they  are 
in  Louisiana  or  Florida,  but  the  air  is  not  hot  here  and 
on  the  hottest  day  in  the  year  in  the  hottest  part  of  Colo- 
rado, one  will  be  comfortable  in  the  shade,  or  at  night." 

The  travelers  rode  on,  over  and  down  a  large  grassy 
hill  to  the  Dolores  River  and  followed  this  stream  into 
Rico,  a  chaste  little  mining  town,  inclosed  with  a  wealth 
of  rich,  green  spruce  and  pine  trees,  and  perched  on  a 
mesa  100  feet  above  and  overlooking  the  Dolores  River. 

Every  one  about  the  hotels  had  his  pockets  loaded 
with  silver  and  lead  specimens,  and  all  had  silver  or  lead 
prospects  for  sale. 

After  supper  an  old  white-haired  miner  pulled  his 
chair  up  to  Mr.  Campbell,  drew  out  of  his  pocket  a  hand- 
ful of  silver  specimens  and  a  magnifying  glass,  and  said : 
"Here,  young  man;  you  look  like  you  have  considerable 
book  larnin',  and  I  suspect  you  are  a  kind  of  a  metal- 
lurgist or  mining  expert  from  the  kind  of  clothes  you  wear 
and  the  way  you  cut  your  whiskers.  !N"ow,  take  this  here 
glass  and  look  down  in  that  'ere  bug  hole  and  you'll  see 


328  THE  PILGRIM 

it  is  just  lousy  with  brittle  silver  and  sulphurets,  and  runs 
away  up  yander,  and  these  other  two  pieces  are  taken 
from  within  five  feet  of  where  I  got  that,  and  on  each  side 
of  it,  and  they  have  nothing  in  them.  Now,  I  want  to 
tell  you  how  this  is.  Up  here  on  Nigger  Baby  Hill, 
the  veins  cross  one  another  like  this, 
and  the  ore  is  richer  than  Croesus, 
right  where  the  veins  intersect,  and  it 


;  i 


is  poorer  than  a  church  mouse  in  every  part  of  the  mines 
except  at  this  point.  I  can  see  how,  at  this  juncture 
of  these  veins,  we  might  find  more  ore  than  elsewhere, 
and  as  rich  as  found  in  the  best  one,  but  can't  under- 
stand how  all  of  the  veins  on  this  hill  are  rich  where 
there  is  an  intersection  with  another  vein,  and  poor  every- 
where else." 

Mr.  Campbell  answered  that  he  did  not  pretend  to 
be  a  mineralogist,  but  asked:  "May  not  the  juncture  of 
these  two  veins  bring  together  such  ores  as  make  a  com- 
pound augmenting  crystallization ;  or,  is  it  not  probable 
that  the  union  of  these  two  veins,  being  the  hub  of  the 
wheel,  as  it  were,  or  a  common  center,  would  have  a 
greater  opportunity  to  become  the  depository  of  these 
rich  minerals,  than  would  the  spokes  of  the  wheel,  if 
veins  gather  their  minerals  from  the  surrounding  rock  ? 
Or,  if  it  comes  up  in  molten  matter  from  toward  the 
center  of  the  earth,  would  not  this  center,  or  check,  where 
the  rock  is  cut  both  ways,  have  a  superior  opportunity 
of  obtaining  a  deep,  rich  draft  ?  However,  I  do  not  pre- 
tend to  know  anything  about  such  things,  even  if  this 
has  been  a  scientific  day  with  us.  We  attended  a  lecture 
this  morning  on  zoology,  one  on  botany,  and  one  on  meteor- 


AND  THE  PIONEER  329 

ology,  and  here  I  am  trying  to  deliver  one  on  mineralogy, 
a  subject  I  know  nothing  about." 

"Well,"  replied  the  old  man,  "you  made  a  blamed 
good  stagger  for  one  who  makes  no  pretense.  You  talk 
a  darned  sight  better  horse-sense  than  most  of  them 
fellows  that  come  in  here  wearing  clothes  and  whiskers 
like  you  do.  I  can  understand  what  you  say,  and  there's 
a  darned  sight  of  good  sense  in  it,  but  the  most  of  them 
fellows,  when  you  ask  them  a  question  like  I  did  you, 
just  touch  a  button  and  the  big,  jaw-breaking  words  begin 
to  fly  head  first,  tail  first,  back  first,  and  stomach  first, 
all  in  a  heap,  and  so  many  of  them  that  you  can't  remem- 
ber all  of  them  to  go  to  the  dictionary  and  see  what  he  was 
talking  about,  and  so  when  he's  done,  all  the  impression 
you  have  is  a  cussed  bad  headache  and  a  mighty  big  dis- 
gust for  such  cattle.  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you, 
any  way." 

The  hotel  here  was  built  of  rough,  white  pine 
boards  stood  on  end  and  the  partitions  were  made  of 
the  same  material ;  the  rooms  were  canvassed  with  a  cheap, 
thin,  slazy  muslin  and  left  at  that.  This  soft  pine  and 
spruce  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  are  so  coarse  grained 
and  spongy,  that  they  dry  and  shrink  like  so  much 
cheap-knit  cotton  cloth,  and  one  could  put  his  hand  right 
through  the  partition  anywhere,  but  for  this  muslin.  If 
you  blew  out  your  light  first  you  could  see  everything 
going  on  in  the  next  room,  and  this  stretched  canvas 
seemed  to  be  equal  to  a  banjo  box  in  transmitting  sound. 
Every  word  uttered  in  the  hotel,  above  a  low  whisper, 
every  cough,  every  clearing  of  the  throat,  or  "turn  over" 
anywhere  in  the  building,  was  audible  everywhere. v  Those 
accustomed  to  what  are  termed  "telephone  houses,"  talked 
in  whispers,  but  those  coming  into  such  houses  for  the  first 


330  THE  PILGRIM 

time,  usually  divulged  to  the  public  many  of  their  secrets 
and  little  personal  chitter-chatter  that  was  never  intended 
for  foreign  ears. 

Late  in  the  evening  a  young  man  and  woman  from 
the  country  came  in,  were  married  at  the  hotel,  and  slept 
near  the  center  of  the  building.  They  forgot  themselves 
the  next  morning  and  were  talking  all  kinds  of  honeymoon- 
talk.  The  groom  insisted  on  putting  on  the  bride's 
stockings  and  when  she  blushingly  protested,  he  reminded 
her  of  her  recent  vow  to  love  and  obey  him,  etc.,  which 
soon  brought  her  to  an  acquiesence;  then  he  drifted  into 
a  complimentary  homily  on  the  very  interesting  subject 
of  her  beautifully-fitting  stockings,  her  most  shapely 
ankles,  etc.,  when  the  pressure  on  the  brain  of  some  in- 
discreet guest  caused  him  to  snigger  out,  "O,  my,  if  I 
ever  get  married  in  Colorado,  I  will  go  camping  on  my 
honey-moon." 

This  spoiled  all  the  fun  of  thirty  or  forty  eagerly 
expectant  guests,  and  all  condemned  the  indiscreet  indi- 
vidual who  checked  the  public  cooing  of  these  unsuspect- 
ing lovers.  Poor  things,  after  they  discovered  that  their 
endearments  had  been  heard  by  all,  they  could  not  face 
the  crowd-  in  the  dining  room,  but  remained  in  their 
insecure  lair  until  they  could  slip  away  to  the  country 
when  there  were  the  fewest  hangers-around  to  view  them. 
At  ten  o'clock  the  Pilgrim  and  the  Pioneer  continued 
their  journey  down  the  beautiful  and  fertile  Dolores 
valley  which  opens  out  a  short  distance  below  Eico. 
When  they  reached  the  big  bend  of  the  river, 
which  is  shaped  like  a  great  lazy  (U)  C  , 

they  cut  across  the  cedar  ridges,  piney  hills,  and  the  fertile 
and  expansive  Montezuma  Valley,  whose  early  history  is 
beclouded  with  sombre  mystery,  and  pushed  on  to  the  in- 
teresting and  historic  Mancos  Canon. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

AMONG  THE  RUINS  OF  THE  AZTECS. 

When  the  Pilgrim  and  the  Pioneer  arose  in  the 
morning  they  found  themselves  in  the  fertile  and  beAvitch- 
ing  little  park  just  above  where  the  gurgling  and  chaste 
waters  of  the  Mancos  brook  forsake  the  cheerful  light  and 
dazzling  sunshine  and  dive  into  the  deep,  dark,  box-canon, 
beyond  the  reach  of  man  or  beast. 

The  little  basin  was  a  carpet  of  green,  fringed  around 
the  borders  with  the  yellow-leaved  quaking  asps,  and  looked 
from  the  distant  hills  like  a  little  green  hammock  with 
a  yellow  border  suspended  on  either  side  from  towering 
peaks. 

When  they  broke  camp  and  meandered  down  the 
east  side  of  the  valley,  the  sun  was  bright  and  the  air 
was  crisp  and  frosty.  Many  song  birds  welcomed  their 
approach  with  their  cheerful  music ;  the  chipmunks  scamp- 
ered over  the  logs  and  stumps  about  them;  the  lazy, 
fat  groundhogs  were  sun  bathing  in  the  crags  of  the  rocks 
above  and  below  -them ;  occasionally  the  sneaking  coyotes 
skulked  from  their  lairs  to  the  open,  and  as  they  ap- 
proached a  large  pine  tree  forest,  a  bunch  of  black-tail 
deer  bounded  across  the  trail  in  front  of  them. 

Said  the  Pilgrim,  "Mr.  Wickham,  this  is  certainly 
a  fairy  land,  or  this  is  the  era  of  good  feeling  between 
man  and  beast,  as  every  animal  indigenous  to  this  latitude 
seems  to  be  out  welcoming  us  this  morning,  and  all  nature 
is  calm,  gentle,  and  cheerful." 

As  he  completed  the  sentence,  they  unexpectedly  ran 
(331) 


332  THE  PILGRIM 

into  a  row  of  mounds,  the  abandoned  ruins  of  an  ancient 
civilization ;  who  the  authors  were,  how  old  the  ruins,  and 
why  they  were  abandoned,  must  always  be  a  matter  of 
mere  conjecture. 

Fortunately,  they  soon  found  some  newspaper  corre- 
spondents, a  magazine  writer,  and  an  archeologist  exhum- 
ing stone  arrow  heads,  stone .  implements,  crockery,  and 
other  evidences  of  the  stage  of  this  civilization.  They 
found  no  trace  of  metals,  but  the  horn  and  stone  imple- 
ments evinced  a  high  standard  in  the  stone  age.  They 
also  saw  many  wooden  implements  and  kitchen  utensils, 
cotton  and  feather  cloth,  maize  and  maize  meal.  The 
pictograph  literature  indicated  that  they  had  the  usual 
domesticated  animals,  excepting  the.  horse,  of  which  no 
picture  has  been  found  in  their  hieroglyphics;  they 
evidently  knew  nothing  of  this  sensible  and  useful  animal. 

When  General  Coronado  invaded  the  Indian  pueblos 
with  his  mounted  troops,  the  natives  supposed  that  the 
horses  were  used  to  devour  men  rather  than  to  carry 
them,  and  after  he  appeared  before  Cibola,  the  Indians 
sent  out  messengers  to  all  of  the  outlying  pueblos  inform- 
ing them  that  Cibola  was  threatened  by  a  ferocious  race 
of  men  who  bestrode  great  animals  that  were  used  to 
devour  men. 

The  natives  seem  to  have  used  a  great  many  fowls, 
and  utilized  their  feathers  as  a  woof  in  weaving  a  shroud 
for  their  noted  dead.  A  thread  from  a  kind  of  flax 
or  silk  weed  seems  to  have  been  used  as  warp.  They 
pressed  the  knees  of  the  dead  close  to  the  stomach, 
thoroughly  wrapped  the  corpse  with  this  feather- 
cloth,  put  it  into  a  kind  of  brush  or  willow  basket,  then 
buried  it  so  deep  in  the  dry  earth  that  no  dampness  could 


AND  THE  PIONEER  333 

penetrate,  and  it  became  as  completely  mummified  as  did 
the  Egyptian  nobles  in  the  pyramids.  It  is  claimed  that 
evidences  have  been  found  tending  to  show  that  they 
cremated  their  ordinary  dead. 

What  a  sombre  gloom  such  relics  spread  over  one 
here !  It  is  akin  to  that  which  lowers  over  visitors  in  old 
grave  yards  or  on  old  battle  fields  where  some  great  prin- 
ciple, affecting  civilization,  has  been  decided. 

These  literary  and  scientific  men  paid  but  little  at- 
tention to  the  new  arrivals,  but  continued  vigorously  mov- 
ing the  ruins  and  examining  everything  that  indicated  the 
touch  of  human  hands ;  were  earnestly  discussing  the  prob- 
able type,  the  period  of  growth,  the  stage  of  civilization, 
the  general  aspirations,  and  the  ultimate  fate  of  the  au- 
thors of  this  once  advanced  civilization,  when  Mr.  Wick- 
ham  interrupted  with  the  queries : 

"What  are  these  mounds  ?  By  whom  and  when 
were  they  made  ?  What  has  become  of  the  former  happy 
occupants  ?" 

Prof.  Hinkley  replied:  "My  dear  sir,  I  regret  that 
your  question  is  not  as  easily  answered  as  it  is  asked. 
Many,  many  days,  weeks,  and  months  have  been  spent 
by  scientists  in  gathering  such  fragments  of  evidence  as 
will  justify  them  in  hazarding  a  plausible  guess.  We 
may  safely  say,  we  know  a  race  of  peaceable,  civilized, 
and  intelligent  home-builders,  herdsmen,  farmers,  me- 
chanics, and  manufacturers  were  thickly  settled  over  six 
thousand  square  miles  of  territory,  mostly  in  south-western 
Colorado,  and,  .to  some  extent,  in  Utah,  Arizona,  and  New 
Mexico.  Whence,  when,  or  why  they  came,  and  when  or 
why  they  departed,  and  whither  they  went,  are  queries 
that  can  only  be  answered  argumentatively. 


334  THE  PILGRIM 

"From  the  taste  and  expenses  displayed  in  the  mul- 
titude of  their  houses  in  the  valleys  and  among  the  crags 
and  in  the  cliffs,  we  may  say,  with  reasonable  certainty, 
that  they  were  not  nomads.  We  judge  that  they  were 
industrious,  from  the  vast  amount  of  labor  devoted  to  the 
building  of  their  houses  and  estufas,  or  council  chambers. 
We  may  say  positively  that  they  were  ingenious  and  skill- 
ful, from  their  efficient  use  of  squares,  levels,  plumbs,  and 
circles  in  their  architecture,  and  from  the  facility  with 
which  they  wielded  the  stone  hammer  and  ax  in  hewing 
the  thousands  of  tons  of  stone  and  thousands  of  cords  of 
huge  cedar  logs,  as  well  as  that  displayed  in  making 
these  implements  and  the  symmetry  adopted  in  working 
•this  material  into  permanent  and  substantial  buildings. 
We  may  judge  them  precautions  and  sagacious  from  the 
many  watch-towers  erected  in  the  valleys  and  among  the 
cliffs.  We  may  regard  them  as  tenderly  refined,  from  the 
great  labor  exerted  in  weaving  long  bolts  of  very  expensive 
cloth  in  which  to  wrap  and  mummify  their  dead.  We 
feel  sure  they  lived  in  profound  peace,  contentment,  and 
prosperity  for  many  generations,  because  their  valley  resi- 
dences were  so  much  older  than  their  cliff  dwellings  and 
watch-towers,  that  were  evidently  constructed  as  a  refuge 
and  precaution  against  the  threatened  invasion  of  some 
powerful  foe,  and  because  of  the  maize,  feather-cloth,  do- 
mestic animals,  etc.,  possessed  by  them. 

"We  conclude  they  were  defeated  by  the  nomads  as 
there  seems  to  have  been  no  use  made  of  their  dwellings. 
The  war  must  have  been  prolonged  and  relentless,  as  it 
must  have  consumed  a  generation  to  build  the  watch- 
towers  and  cliff  dwellings.  We  conclude  that  the  Aztecs 
were  driven  out  many  centuries  ago,  from  the  age  of 
their  latest  buildings,  and  because  the  Ute  Indians,  their 


AND  THE  PIONEER  335 

probable  conquerers,  have  occupied  the  country  for  gen- 
erations and  have  no  traditions  as  to  their  predecessors, 
the  authors  of  these  ruins,  and  traditions  about  so 
important  a  measure  should  be  handed  down  for  from 
three  to  five  centuries  at  least. 

"  There  is,  however,  a  tradition  among  the  Moqui 
Indians  in  Arizona,  who  claim  to  be  descendants  of  the 
Aztecs,  and  are  of  a  higher  type  of  civilization  than  the 
Utes  and  therefore  more  liable  to  prolong  such  traditions. 

"This  tradition  is  given  by  Hall,  the  historian,  in 
substance,  to  this  effect: 

"  Tor  6,000  years  the  Aztecs  occupied  the  great 
country  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  were  very 
numerous,  prosperous,  peaceable,  and  happy.  One 
day  the  earth  shook  violently,  and  shot  up  great  moun- 
tains from  the  bottom  of  the  rivers  and  lakes,  and  formed 
other  rivers  and  lakes  at  other  places;  most  of  the  Aztecs 
were  drowned  or  otherwise  killed,  and  the  remain- 
ing few  continued  to  be  industrious,  peaceable,  and  happy. 
About  one  thousand  years  ago  a  nomadic  tribe  of 
blanket  Indians  from  the  north  (presumably  the  Utes), 
began  to  visit  them  in  the  summer  and  depart  in  the 
fall ;  the  Aztecs  became  suspicious  of  their  encroach- 
ments, built  watch-towers  and  stone  walls  around  many 
of  the  valley  villages,  and  dwellings  of  refuge  in  the 
cliffs  of  the  mountains,  provisioned  them,  and  moved 
their  families  thither.  By  and  by  these  northern 
visitors  came  in  great  numbers  and  claimed  the  country. 
The  Aztec  women  and  children  were  gathered  and 
started  across  the  great  lake  then  covering  Montezuma 
valley,  and  the  warriors  met  their  northern  invaders  in 
battle  near  the  head  of  McElmo  canon,  and  defeated  them 
for  the  time;  the  hollows  of  the  rocks  were  filled  to 


336  THE  PILGRIM 

the  brim  with  the  dead  on  both  sides,  and  the  blood 
of  the  slain  ran,  down  the  canons  like  water;  the 
Aztecs,  unable  to  hold  out  against  the  invaders,  escaped 
and  followed  their  families  into  Arizona,  and  their  de- 
scendants are  there  today,  known  as  Moqui  Indians.' ' 

Prof.  Hinkley  continued:  "There  is  nothing  im- 
probable about  the  truth  of  the  facts  assumed  in  this  tra- 
dition. Evidences  of  the  advanced  civilization,  and  of 
the  long  struggle  of  the  people  are  physically  marked  on 
the  ground  all  around  us.  Enough  of  the  unique  Cliff 
Palace,  with  its  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  rooms  on 
the  ground  floor,  and  probably  three  or  four  hundred 
originally  in  the  palace,  finished  with  lofty  watch-towers, 
numerous  estufas  for  the  meeting  of  the  different  as- 
semblies, etc.,  stands  out  in  bold  relief  in  the  bluffs  in  a 
branch  of  Cliff  Canon,  sufficiently  distinct  to  be  classed 
as  the  most  extensive  ruin  of  the  kind  in  the  United 
States.  Smaller  buildings  are  numerous  on  Mesa  Verde 
and  in  the  Mancos  Canon,  or  near  the  Dolores,  Rio  San 
Juan,  etc." 

In  half  an  hour's  ride  from  the  mouth  of  Cliff 
Canon  stands  the  large  and  superbly  built  Balcony  House, 
the  stone  cut  to  the  square,  laid  in  clay  and  sand  mortar, 
corners  turned  at  perfect  angles,  and  towers  in  perfect 
circles,  and  is  a  standing  monument  of  Indian  thrift  and 
mechanism.  This  was  probably  the  educational  Athens 
of  the  aborigines  of  the  Americas.  Respectable  ethnol- 
ogists accredit  the  Aztec  language  with  being  the  classic 
Greek  among  the  200  existing  Indian  languages. 

Prof.  Lamed  said,  "Their  pictograph  literature  has 
never  been  excelled.  They  manufactured  from  the  leaves 
of  agave  plants  a  thick,  coarse  paper,  used  in  every- 
day transactions;  their  books  were  written  on  this  paper, 


AND  THE  PIONEER  337 

15  inches  wide  and  from  60  to  70  feet  long;  these  sheets 
were  so  artistically  folded  and  backed  with  thin  boards 
that  they  resembled  English  quarto  volumes." 

The  very  fact  that  some  200  languages  are  well 
distinguished  among  the  aborigines  would  indicate  that 
they  have  been  here  tens  of  thousands  of  years.  Prof. 
Whitney  and  others  claim  to  have  evidences  that  the 
Pacific  Coast  was  inhabited  before  the  Glacial  period. 
Prof.  Agassiz  says  that  proof  is  abundant  contradicting 
the  common  error  that  this  is  the  New  World.  Prof. 
Bunsen  claims  to  possess  evidence  that  inhabitants  were 
here  for  20,000  years  prior  to  the  discoveries  of  Co- 
lumbus. 

The  exhumer  of  a  skull,  lance-points,  etc.,  from 
below  the  lava  beds  claims  to  possess  indisputable  geolog- 
ical evidence  that  the  Pacific  slope  was  settled  at  least 
35,000  years  ago.  Some  very  capable  authors  claim  that 
the  original  American  is  as  distinct  a  type  as  the  African, 
and  that  he  is  indigenous  to  the  continent,  but  it  seems 
more  probable  that  colonies  came  over  from  western  Eu- 
rope, later  from  Asia,  while  the  preglacial  land-bridge 
connected  the  Americas  with  the  continent.  There  are 
cliff  dwellings  and  architecture  similar  to  that  of  the  Az- 
tecs in  Morocco.  While  none  of  the  ethnological  analogies 
seem  to  connect  the  American  Indian  with  any  Asiatic 
races,  still  there  is  a  great  similarity  between  the  American 
Indian  and  the  Asiatic  in  the  general  lack  of  the  mental 
powers  of  analysis,  or  power  of  propulsion,  and  the 
American  Indian  seems  to  be  irretrievably  chained  to  the 
proverbial  indestructibility  of  type  so  common  to  the 
Asiatic.  The  difference  in  complexion  and  general  make- 
up is  not  so  glaring  that  the  great  difference  in  climate, 
food,  and  general  environment  might  not  reasonably  ac- 

THK  PILGRIM.— 22. 


338  THE  PILGRIM 

count  for  it  No  layman  can  pass  through  the  great 
Montezuma  valley  without  being  forced  to  the  conclusion 
that  he  is  passing  over  what  has  been  the  bottom  of  a 
great  inland  sea.  All  of  the  known  facts  in  a  general 
way  tend  to  support  the  Indian  traditions. 

Captain  Harden  said :  "Gentlemen,  war  would  be  a 
sad,  sad  thing  to  contemplate  if  it  had  not  done  so  much 
for  civilization;  war  may  be  'Hell,'  but  it  has  always 
been  working  in  harmony  with  nature  in  establishing 
the  survival  of  the  fittest.  The  wars  of  all  ages  have 
elevated  and  benefited  the  vanquished,  usually,  more 
than  they  have  the  victors.  I  am  for  war  as  a  civilizer, 
notwithstanding  its  necessary  evils." 

"Ah,"  retorted  Mr.  Wickham,  "That  has  always  been 
the  view  of  the  military  devotee,  who  ever  has  in  mind 
the  law  of  brute  force  and  is  continually  wishing  for  a 
war,  that  his  personal  position  may  be  elevated.  Did 
the  annihilation  of  this  home-building  and  home-loving 
civilization,  by  the  barbarous  Utes,  elevate  either  tribe? 
Did  the  spoliation  of  Peru  by  De  Soto  and  Pizarro  better 
the  condition  of  the  conquered  race  ?  Did  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  home-building  and  home-loving  Indians  of 
Mexico  by  Cortez  and  Coronado,  benefit  the  vanquished? 

"The  much  vaunted  law  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest, 
as  used  in  layman  parlance,  is  but  a  cunning  justification 
of  the  impunity  with  which  the  strong  has  ever  sub- 
ordinated the  rights  of  the  weak;  the  law  of  the  survival 
of  the  fittest  is  but  a  justification  of  brute  force,  by  attrib- 
uting the  rule  of  omniverous  greed  and  merciless  brutality, 
to  the  inexorable  law  of  destiny.  It  is  a  lowering  of  the 
rule  of  humanity  to  a  parallel  with  that  of  the  vulture. 
It  is  an  acknowledgement  that  might,  and  not  the  Golden 
Rule,  is  the  criterion  of  right. 


AND  THE  PIONEER  339 

"The  Fiji  Islanders  may  as  reasonably  justify  can- 
nibalism because  the  big  fishes  eat  the  little  ones,  or 
because  the  hawk  eats  the  sparrow.  In  the  conflict  be- 
tween the  wild,  barbarous  nomads  and  the  peaceful,  in- 
dustrious, intelligent,  moral  home-builder,  the  latter  is 
often  the  weaker  and  perishes.  For  centuries  the  slave- 
holders were  mightier  than  the  slaves  and  their  friends, 
and  the  slaves  were  kept  in  bondage.  England  has  been 
stronger  than  Ireland  for  centuries,  and  has  made  the 
latter  a  humiliated  mendicant.  What  a  vindication  of  the 
law  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest !  Did  England's  victory 
benefit  the  vanquished?  Spain  has,  for  ages,  made  her 
masses  slaves  to  the  grandees.  These  humiliations  are 
all  the  results  of  war,  or  brute  force.  It  is  the  dominion 
of  might,  the  product  of  the  so-called  inexorable  law  of 
the  survival  of  the  fittest  that  many  shallow  thinkers 
sanctify  as  the  will  of  destiny.  Such  principles  are  but 
the  outbursts  of  the  fiendish  instincts  of  the  human  wolf 
that  is  ever  feeding  upon  the  natural  rights  of  the  race. 
It  is  the  self-made  shield  of  the  blood-stained  comorants 
who  never  rise  above  the  gluttenous  appetites  and  selfish 
greed  that  have  ever  preyed  upon  the  unwary  and  mis- 
guided public. 

"If  war  is  to  be  used  primarily  as  a  means  of  es- 
tablishing such  a  creed,  then  why  not  draft  the  consump- 
tive, the  syphilitic,  and  otherwise  diseased  ones  into 
the  wars  and  leave  the  physically  perfect  at  home  to 
perpetuate  the  race?  The  diseased  ones  would 
have  much  less  to  lose  on  the  field  of  battle  than  the 
sound  ones.  Cruel  as  this  would  be,  it  would  be  more 
merciful  than  your  barbarous  code.  Good  health,  in- 
stead of  disease,  would  be  transmitted  to  posterity.  This 
may  seem  cruel,  but  there  is  no  mercy  connected  with  the 


IT  DISLOCATED  THE  PIONEER'S  MENTALITY. 


AND  THE  PIONEER  341 

ravages  of  war,  and  the  tenets  of  the  devotees  of  this 
brutal  theory  that  'Might  makes  right.' 

"How  long  could  the  integrity  of  a  herd  of  sheep, 
cattle,  or  horses  be  maintained  if  the  owner  constantly 
selected  and  exported  the  most  persistent  and  healthy, 
and  left  the  diseased  and  weakly  ones  easy  facilities  for 
procreation?  How  long  can  the  American  people  hold 
their  own  if  the  most  healthy  are  to  be  selected  daily  and 
shipped  away  to  be  slain  or  loaded  with  disease  ?  A  wise 
lesson  might  be  learned  from  the  stagnation  of  the  blood 
of  the  stunted,  undersized  French  soldier. 

"Why  is  the  armor  of  the  soldier  in  olden  times  so 
much  too  long  and  too  large  for  the  Frenchmen  of  today  ? 
Why  has  his  progeny  ceased  to  multiply?  Why  has  the 
once  fertile  and  imperious  blood  of  the  Spanish  become 
sterile  and  stagnant? 

"Cruel,  brutal  wars  have  drained  the  cream  of  the 
blood,  while  putrid  disease  and  impoverished  blood  have 
multiplied,  to  the  decay  of  the  races.  How  long  can  we 
run  the  military  skimmer  over  our  blood  without  going 
into  a  like  decay  ?  A  common  fate  awaits  all  nations  that 
heedlessly  tumble  into  the  same  fateful  abyss." 

At  the  top  of  the  hill  some  of  the  scientists  were 
laying  out  a  mummified  Aztec  Indian.  His  nails,  his 
teeth,  his  hair,  and  general  contour,  were  seemingly  as 
perfect  as  during  his  buoyant  life  period.  He  seemed  to 
be  as  artistically  dried  and  cured  for  preservation  as 
the  salted  pork  of  the  successful  hog-growers.  The 
Pioneer  looked  over  this  Indian  for  'a  moment,  his  face 
reddened  and  puffed  with  accumulated  blood,  then  whirled 
upon  his  heels  and  moved  off  easterly  at  a  rapid  pace. 
He  travelled  constantly  during  the  day  toward  the  East, 
morose  and  speechless. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

RETREATING. 

After  a  night's  rest  and  a  long  silence,  Mr.  Wickham 
said:  "I  must  retreat  from  these  sad  relics.  It  makes 
a  bad  impression  on  my  over-loaded  mind.  How  uncivil- 
ized, how  depraved  a  being  is  man!  Where  is  the  brute 
that  will  premeditately  murder  or  exterminate  a  larger 
part  of  its  species  for  its  accumulations?  Where  is  the 
lower  animal  so  malignant  as  to  kill  the  female  in  a  fit 
of. jealousy?  Greedy,  selfish  man  is  the  most  cruel  and 
merciless  of  all  God's  creatures.  This  great  civilization 
has  been  destroyed,  not  for  malice,  not  for  revenge,  not 
from  necessity  or  self-preservation,  but  for  what  the  con- 
trivers possessed.  But,  ah!  would  not  I  and  mine  be 
better  off  if  some  cruel  enemy  had  exterminated  the  In- 
dian race  before  the  commission  of  my  fatal  error?" 

As  they  dropped  down  into  Wildcat  Canon  it  became 
dark  and  gloomy  and  seemed  to  be  a  fit  abode  for  the 
skulking  wild  animals  for  which  it  was  named.  They 
meandered  through  great  pine  and  spruce  forests  and  over 
numerous  outcroppings  of  bituminous  coal.  At  the  junc- 
tion of  Wildcat  Creek  and  the  Animas  Eiver  lie  some  of 
the  greatest  coal  deposits  in  the  Rocky  Mountains.  The 
water  power  is  splendid,  the  town-site  of  Durango  is 
superb,  and  the  country  has  such  a  variety  of  resources 
and  occupies  such  a  position  that  it  must  in  the  near 
future  be  the  metropolis,  not  only  of  southern  Colorado, 
but  of  a  much  vaster  part  of  the  great  arid  belt  lying 

south  of  it  in  New  Mexico  and  Arizona. 

(343) 


344  THE  PILGRIM 

They  followed  the  Animas  River  up  to  Animas  City 
and  stopped  for  the  night  in  a  saloon  with  a  hotel  attach- 
ment. If  any  one  wanted  a  drink  of  most  vile  whisky 
or  a  cigar  of  most  poisonous,  frost-bitten  tobacco,  the 
proprietor's  eyes  sparkled  and  his  cheeks  glowed  with  a 
supreme  ecstacy,  but  he  seemed  to  think  eating  played  no 
pleasant  or  beneficial  part.  What  is  there  about  the  sale 
of  this  iniquitous  beverage  and  narcotic  weed  that  makes 
the  proprietor  rejoice  more  over  earning  a  quarter  in  , 
selling  these  poisons  that  injure  his  customers  than  he 
does  in  making  a  half  dollar  from  a  dish  of  nutritious 
ham  and  eggs,  which  so  cheers  and  rejuvenates  some  weary 
traveler?  The  tired  travelers  were  put  into  the  second 
or  top  story  of  the  building,  over  a  saloon.  Soon  after 
they  dropped  off  to  sleep  some  drunken  gamblers  began 
firing  their  revolvers  through  the  ceiling.  Oh,  how 
the  Pilgrim  and  the  Pioneer  longed  for  bed  slats 
a  yard  wide  and  a  foot  thick,  or  for  four  or 
five  stories,  or  for  a  roof  garden  .as  a  possible 
means  of  escape.  Fortunately  their  only  injury  was 
fright.  The  next  morning  they  told  the  proprietor  how 
bullets  crashed  through  the  floor  all  around  them.  He 
laughed  cheerfully  and  replied  that  the  boys  were  just 
having  a  little  fun  and  were  not  shooting  at  them  and  that 
there  was  not  a  bit  of  danger,  though  the  bullets  passed 
all  around  them.  As  they  moved  off  up  the  Animas  River 
Mr.  Wickham  repeated,  "  'Not  a  bit  of  danger'  in  a  bed 
of  bullets !  What  a  commentary  on  the  baneful  influences 
of  this  Devil's  water  and  Satan's  narcotic  weed.  They 
destroy  all  discretion,  all  discrimination,  and  all  sense 
of  care  for  self  or  others." 

They  moved  on  through  the  verdant  and  fertile  valley 
of  the  Animas  for  an  hour  and  a  half,  and  reached  a 


AND  THE  PIONEER  345 

spot  near  the  mountain's  base  where  hot  mineral  waters 
of  various  kinds  were  boiling  from  the  crevices  in  the 
rocks  all  around  them.  They  soon  passed  into  the  dark, 
rugged  Animas  Canon  with  its  precipitous  cliffs  hanging 
over  them.  The  deafening  roar  of  the  waters  over 
successive  runs  of  cascades,  and  the  dark,  'heavy  mist 
settling  on  them  reminded  them  forcibly  of  their  help- 
lessness. 

These  wild  scenes  exhilarate  and  cheer  up  the  rapid 
traveler  that  can  see  and  depart  upon  a  railroad  train  or 
on  a  fleet  steed,  but  to  be  compelled  to  camp  in  these 
rugged  gorges  shrouds  the  traveler  with  a  gloom  akin 
to  the  horrors  of  a  dungeon. 

At  noon  the  next  day  they  emerged  from  these  deep, 
dark,  noisy  gorges  and  stood  at  the  foot  of  the  level,  ex- 
pansive, and  picturesque  Baker's  Park,  the  site  of 
the  thrifty  town  of  Silverton.  This  place  is  9,200  feet 
above  sea  level,  where  it  frosts  throughout  the  year,  and 
the  fires  in  the  stoves,  like  those  in  the  estufas,  never 
die  out;  but  it  is  one  of  the  richest  mineral  regions  in 
the  great  West,  and  a  beautiful  town-site.  Water  which 
appeared  to  be  almost  as  red  as  a  fountain  of  blood  was 
pouring  through  the  ditches  on  either  side  of  the  streets. 
Cement  Creek,  from  which  the  water  comes,  runs  through 
great  beds  of  red  iron  and  the  stain  collects  on  the  boulders 
in  the  bottom  of  the  ditches  and  in  the  creek  and  gives  the 
water  the  appearance  of  blood. 

As  they  entered  the  business  part  of  the  town  they 
encountered  a  great  crowd  of  business  men  and  miners, 
two  of  whom  were  beating  something  unmercifully 
with  clubs,  while  the  others  were  jeering  and  encouraging 
them  to  proceed.  Mr.  Wickham  said  to  a  by-stander, 


346  THE  PILGRIM 

"That  poor  fellow  must  be  beaten  into  a  jelly  now.    Why 
don't  some  one  stop  that  brutality  ?" 

"Someone  beaten  into  a  jelly,  your  foot!"  answered 
the  by-stander.  "They  ain't  beating  nobody." 

"Then  pray,  what  are  they  doing?"  inquired  the 
Pioneer. 

"I'll  tell  you  how  it  is.  We  are  a  territory  and  can't 
elect  our  officers  like  white  people,  and  the  dude  of  a  gov- 
ernor appointed  a  dude  friend  of  his  in  Virginia  as 
county  judge  of  this  new  county  up  to  next  election, 
when  we  will  elect  one  of  our  own  lawyer  old-timers. 
This  new  county  judge  came  in  here  with  a  biled  shirt 
and  a  plug  hat  on.  The  boys  just  met  him  down  here  and 
beat  that  plug  hat  into  shreds  and  they  will  pull  that 
biled  shirt  off  of  him  and  put  it  up  as  a  scare-crow.  The 
miners  won't  tolerate  any  such  high-toned  Eastern  fixin's 
in  this  camp." 

Judge  James  was  marched  up  the  street  bareheaded 
to  a  store  and  presented  with  a  miners'  slouch  hat  and 
a  blue  flannel  shirt  and  informed  that  he  was  dressed 
in  due  and  ancient  form.  The  crowd,  in  its  glee,  kept 
up  the  hurrah  until  they  broke  the  faro  bank,  took  pos- 
session of  the  variety  theaters,  and  made  the  echoes  from 
the  surrounding  hills  roar  until  the  break  of  day. 

The  people  had  elected  Mr.  Richard  Courtney  dis- 
trict attorney.  He  was  a  brilliant  and  prepossessing 
official,  but  had  a  mania  for  playing  poker.  It 
is  said  of  him  that  he  usually,  in  his  capacity  as  a  public 
officer,  vigorously  prosecuted  all  gamblers  to  a  conviction, 
at  each  term  of  court,  and  had  them  heavily  fined  for  the 
people,  then  staid  over  a  couple  of  weeks  and  played  poker 
with  them,  showing  that  as  an  individual  he  had  the 
common  gambling  passion  and  was  not  personally  op- 


AND  THE  PIONEER  347 

posed  to  the  game.  Mr.  Campbell  was  presented  to  the 
district  attorney  and  the  two  strolled  over  and  dropped 
into  a  young  attorney's  office  about  five  o'clock  in  the 
evening.  The  attorney  was  also  permeated  with  the  poker 
passion,  and  had  his  office  filled  with  chips,  cards,  etc. 
He  got  them  down  and  said  to  the  four  other  gentlemen 
in  the  office,  "Let's  have  a  'little  game  of  draw*  before 
supper."  Three  of  his  guests  replied,  "E"o,  we  don't 
care  to  play." 

The  young  attorney  answered,  "Let's  put  up  ten 
dollars  and  play  'freeze-out'  for  it."  The  three  were 
still  incorrigible.  The  yaung  attorney  then  pulled  down 
his  cards  and  chips  and  said :  "Sit  down  there,  boys,  and 
let's  see  how  the  cards  would  run  were  we  really  playing 
for  money." 

They  all  sat  in  the  game  and  the  ivory  chips  were 
so  energetically  clicking  that  passers-by  could  hear  them 
distinctly.  A  drunken  gambler,  in  passing,  heard  the 
clicking  of  the  chips  and  blundering  in,  asked,  "Is 
this  uh  club-room  ?" 

"Yes,  sir,"  replied  Mr.  Trowbridge,  "this  is  a  club- 
room." 

The  gambler  threw  down  $5  and  said,  "Gim  me  five 
dollars'  worth  ur  chips." 

They  were  counted  out  to  him  and  he  came  into 
the  game.  The  other  players  thought  it  quite  a  joke,  and 
made  all  kinds  of  reckless  bets  until  the  new-comer  had 
$150  worth  of  chips.  He  then  pushed  his  chair  back 
and  inquired :  "Who  cashes  these  chips  ?" 

Mr.  Trowbridge  replied,  "!N"o  one;  we  were  just 
playing  a  little  game  of  social  'shoot  mouth,'  "  and  pushed 
his  five  dollars  back  to  him. 

The  gambler  threw  the  $5  in  his  face,  backed  up 


348  THE  PILGRIM 

against  the  wall  so  no  one  could  get  behind  him,  drew 
an  immense  navy  revolver,  turned  the  muzzle  towards 
the  ceiling  and  began  to  whirl  the  cylinder  with  his  finger, 
coolly  remarking: 

"My  friend,  if  these  chips  aren't  cashed  in  just  one 
minute  there  will  be  the  liveliest  game  of  'shoot-mouth* 
in  this  room  that  ever  occurred  in  Silverton,"  then  de- 
liberately pulled  out  his  watch  and  noted  the  time.  Every 
one  stared  in  astonishment.  Mr.  Trowbridge  got  his 
second  breath  and  replied: 

"Now,  my  friend,  you  should  have  observed  from 
my  manner  that  I  was  only  joshing  you.  Your  chips 
will  be  cashed  all  right.  This  .is  a  gentleman's  game; 
take  your  seat  there  and  we  will  play  one  more  round 
and  then  we  will  all  take  a  drink  and  go  to  supper 
together  like  gentlemen." 

Every  one  heartily  assented  and  the  gambler  put 
up  his  gun  and  seated  himself  at  the  table.  All  others 
played  only  against  the  gambler,  stole  cards  and  slipped 
to  one  another  under  the  table,  and  in  a  couple  of  deals 
the  gambler  was  broken  and  the  game  closed. 

Mr.  Trowbridge  arose,  put  on  his  overcoat,  and  ex- 
claimed :  "Now,  gentlemen,  come  and  let's  go  get  a  drink 
and  go  to  supper,  and  I  want  to  give  one  and  all  timely 
warning  that  there  is  to  be  no  more  rshoot-mouth,'  played 
in  this  office." 

Mr.  Campbell,  his  teeth  chattering  like  those  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  Southern  swamps  when  seized  with  a 
malarial  chill,  sneaked  away  to  his  room,  turned  the 
key  in  the  door  and  said  to  himself,  "What  a  narrow 
escape.  I  shall  now  mark  card-playing  from  the  few 
amusements  left  me  while  in  this  extremely  dangerous 
civilization." 


AND  THE  PIONEER  349 

After  supper  a  "fleecer"  called  Mr.  Campbell  to  one 
side,  slipped  a  small  bottle,  filled  with  a  red  fluid,  out 
of  his  hip  pocket,  raised  his  hand  and  whispered : 

"Sh,  be  quiet  about  this,  and  don't  allow  any  one 
to  see  or  hear  you." 

Mr.  Campbell,  in  an  embarrassed  voice,  stammered 
out,  "No,  thank  you,  I  don't  care  to  drink  now.  I  have 
just  been  to  supper." 

The  fleecer  retorted,  "Drink,  thunder !  a  well  man 
don't  want  to  drink  a  steam-engine  or  a  wire  fence  in 
solution.  You  think  that  red  stuff  is  whisky.  It  hasn't 
got  a  drop  of  alcohol  in  it.  That  is  a  tincture  of  iron 
from  a  natural  flow,  compounded  by  nature.  There  is  a 
whole  creek  of  it  up  here,  enough  to  furnish  the  world 
with  a  natural  preparation  of  iron  for  medicine,  and 
enough  iron  which  can  be  cheaply  precipitated  to  build  an 
iron  fence  around  the  globe  that  would  turn  a  wild 
Tartar,  and  the  whole  thing  is  mine.  I  am  a  poor  man; 
that  is,  I  haven't  any  money  to  develop  it  and  want 
some  good  man  to  put  up  a  little  grub  and  a  few  tools 
until  we  get  to  selling  the  water  and  precipitating  the 
iron.  Two  or  three  hundred  dollars  would  be  sufficient, 
and  I'll  do  the  work  myself.  Take  time  for  your  decision, 
there  is  no  hurry  about  it,  but  I  must  insist  that  you 
impart  nothing  I  have  told  you  to  a  living  soul.  You  hold 
the  golden  key  which  will  unlock  the  door  of  fortune  to 
me  and  mine,  and  to  you  and  yours  as  well,  if  you  join 
me,  but  you  shall  not  betray  me." 

Mr.  Campbell  was  restless  through  the  night.  He 
fancied  the  brilliant  life  of  luxury  he  would  live,  and 
longed  for  daylight  that  he  might  behold  his  treasure 
vaults.  He  enjoyed  all  of  the  sensations  of  the  million- 
aire. 


350  THE  PILGRIM 

As  Mr.  Wickham  and  Mr.  Campbell  arose  from  the 
breakfast  table  at  half  past  seven  in  the  morning,  the 
possessor  of  Cement  Creek  beckoned  Mr.  Campbell  to  one 
side  and  said,  "Excuse  yourself  for  half  an  hour  and  I 
will  show  you  one  of  the  wonders  of .  the  New  World, 
where  we  may  tap  prodigal  nature  for  princely  incomes 
for  ourselves  and  posterity,  until  these  gigantic  moun- 
tains are  worn  to  the  level  of  the  plains." 

Mr.  Campbell  excused  himself  and  was  stealthily 
piloted  to  where  Cement  Creek  poured  her  crimson  waters 
in  torrents  into  the  Animas  Kiver.  With  bated  breath 
the  assumed  owner  said,  "That  really  looks  like  the  foun- 
tain filled  with  blood — about  which  we  so  often  sing ;  that 
water  is  25  per  cent  iron.  I  have  staked  it,  and  also 
two  great  basins  in  the  Animas  Canon  as  settling 
vats.  We  shall  pour  all  of  this  torrent  into  one  basin  for 
months,  then  we  shall  divert  it  to  the  other,  and  this 
dry  and  light  atmosphere  will,  in  a  very  short  time,  take 
up  the  water  and  leave  the  granulated  iron  in  the  quiet 
one  for  the  shaping  'of  our  hands.  We  shall  have  mills 
built  at  the  basins,  where  we  shall  convert  it  into  iron 
bars  so  cheaply  that  it  will  shut  down  every  other  iron 
mine  in  America  and  give  us  a  monopoly,  and  we  shall 
fix  our  own  profits.  Why,  we  shall  make  Carnegie's 
mills  look  like  playthings,  and,  besides  we  will  put  up 
bottling  works  and  advertise  this  great  supply  of  the 
tincture  of  iron  compounded  by  nature  in  such  glowing 
terms  that  we  shall  soon  have  a  stream  of  money  coming 
into  our  coffers  from  every  drug  establishment  in  the 
United  States." 

Mr.  Campbell  stammered,  halted,  but  finally  replied 
that  he  was  sorry  to  inform  him  that  he  only  had  $100, 
and  it  would  require  about  all  of  this  to  bear  the  ex- 


AND  THE  PIONEER  351 

penses  of  his  contemplated  trip,  but  said  if  he  would 
allow  him  to  present  the  merits  of  this  great  discovery 
to  his  friend,  Mr,  Wickham,  the  latter  would  furnish  all 
of  the  money  needed. 

"Tut,  tut,  tut;  perish  the  thought,"  answered  the 
fortunate  possessor;  "you  almost  make  me  sorry  that  I 
confided  in  you.  Only  you  shall  know  of  this  until  all 
of  these  claims  are  staked,  worked  and  recorded. 

"Now,  look  here,  my  new  young  friend,  be  a  man. 
Wean  yourself  from  the  state  of  fogyism  of  the  belated 
East.  Kemember  that  you  are  in  the  free,  expansive 
western  domain,  where  the  ambitious,  stalwart,  young 
man  reigns  supreme.  Don't  give  any  ground  for  your 
peers  to  point  the  finger  of  contempt  at  you,  and  say, 
'There  is  a  young  stripling  tied  to  the  apron-strings  of 
a  fossilized  old  man,  now  groping  in  the  garrulous  im- 
becility of  a  second  childhood.7  Let  me  give  some  free 
advice.  Never  present  a  new  discovery  to  a  man  whose 
sun  has  passed  the  meridian.  In  the  declining  years  of 
life  he  becomes  overly  conservative,  argues  himself  out  of 
all  attempt  to  execute  his  intuitions,  and  is  a  pestiferous 
stickler  for  the  old  things.  To  hope  for  success,  you  must 
always  present  innovations  or  new  methods  to  the  hope- 
fulness of  youth." 

The  possessor  filled  a  small  vial  with  the  red  water, 
handed  it  to  Mr.  Campbell,  and  informed  him  that,  "In 
two  or  three  days  the  water  will  precipitate  and  settle 
in  the  vial  and  look  like  red  brick  dust  The  solid  iron 
will  fill  the  vial  about  one-fourth  the  way  to  the  mouth. 
You  have  my  permission  to  present  this  ocular  demon- 
stration to  Mr.  Wickham,  for  even  the  conservatism  of  old 
age  will  not  be  able  to  withstand  such  a  temptation,  and 
you  can  have  a  conclusive  argument  for  necessary  means 


352  THE  PILGRIM 

made  by  one  of  these  harmless  vials  that  you  were  ready 
to  run  from  last  night.  Now,  you  give  me  $50  out  of 
your  hundred  to  buy  supplies  and  record  the  claims,  and 
I  shall  do  the  work  myself.  Before  your  $50  is  expended 
the  iron  will  have  precipitated  in  your  vial  and  the  claims 
will  be  worked  and  recorded.  Then  you  can  present  it 
as  evidence  of  your  opulence,  and  for  a  small  interest 
you  can  get  all  the  money  you  want." 

Mr.  Campbell  eagerly  handed  his  new  partner  $50 
and  with  a  light  heart  hurried  back  to  the  hotel. 

He  then  inquired,  "What  is  the  program  to- 
day?" The  Pioneer  gravely  answered,  "I  am  retreating 
from  the  melancholy  scenes  that  lie  behind  us,"  and  moved 
off  rapidly  toward  the  East.  Mr.  Campbell  was  dis- 
appointed; he  was  beginning  to  lose  faith  in  the  old 
Pioneer  and  to  feel  a  relish  for  these  wild  escapades. 
He  bade  his  partner  and  new  acquaintances  an  affectionate 
goodbye,  and  with  Mr.  Wickham  started  up  the  Animas 
River  and  across  Engineer  Mountain.  How  he  regretted 
leaving  such  individuals  as  the  district  attorney,  Captain 
Moulton,  Captain  Slingsby,  Mr.  Singleton,  and. the  young 
attorney  who,  he  was  told,  kept  the  ball  rolling  high  and 
often  the  high  ball  rolling  in  the  Sky  City.  They  tramped 
over  lead,  copper,  silver,  and  gold  mines  from  morning 
till  night. 

They  arrived  in  Lake  City  late  in  the  evening,  and 
Mr.  Campbell  hurried  off  to  examine  by  himself  the  vial 
of  red  water  and  see  how  the  precipitation  was  progress- 
ing. The  bottom  of  the  vial  was  covered  with  the  brick- 
dust-appearing  material,  and  he  was  completely  over- 
joyed, hunted  up  groups  of  miners,  talked  about  bonanzas, 
and  irisisted  that  every  man  ought  to  mine  in  this  coun- 
try, and  if  all  did  not  get  rich  it  was  their  own  fault. 


AND  THE  PIONEER  363 

Col.  Harry  Kandall,  who  was  exhibiting  a  bogus 
$5,000  draft  which  he  soon  expected  to  cash,  and  upon 
which  he  got  board  and  lodging,  agreed  with  him  fully, 
and  thought  his  advice  was  worthy  of  the  serious  con- 
sideration of  all.  By  and  by  Colonel  Randall  motioned 
him  to  one  side  and  whispered  in  his  ear : 

"If  you  will  agree  to  be  mum  until  I  say  'open  box/ 
I  will  tell  you  something  that  will  please  you." 

"Oh,  yes,  yes,"  responded  Mr.  Campbell,  "since  I 
have  been  dealing  in  mines  I  have  become  accustomed  to 
keep  secrets.  You  can  implicitly  confide  in  me;  I  know 
the  necessity  of  keeping  these  things  sub  rosa  until  the 
work  is  done  and  the  record  made." 

"Very  well,"  replied  the  colonel,  "I  am  always  glad 
to  deal  with  those  like  yourself,  who  understand  and 
recognize  business  principles.  This  morning  a  mile  up 
Henson  Creek  I  put  a  shot  in  the  cliff  and  opened  a  regular 
bonanza ;  I  have  all  of  my  means  in  a  $5,000  draft  which 
I  cannot  get  cashed  in  this  little  mining-camp,  and  I 
must  get  some  one  in  with  me  to  help  work  the  assess- 
ment and  record  the  claim  before  I  go  to  get  my  draft 
cashed.  I  should  like  to  go  up  and  show  it  to  you  at 
seven  A.  M." 

Mr.  Campbell  told  him  he  had  just  made  some  in- 
vestments in  Silverton  that  took  all  the  money  he  had, 
but  he  expected  more  in  a  very  few  days  and  would  be 
glad  to  see  his  claim  any  way. 

Meanwhile  Mr.  Wickham,  with  a  raw-hide  concealed 
under  his  coat,  searched  the  town  in  vain  for  the  "back- 
capper."  He  was  altogether  too  astute  to  be  caught  nap- 
ping. 

The  next  morning,  just  after  sun-up,  Mr.  Campbell 
and  the  Colonel  stole  off  to  the  new  mine.  A  hole  had 


354  THE  PILGRIM 

been  blasted  into  the  cliff  about  thirty  feet  above  the 
bottom,  and  the  brilliant  mineral  glistened  in  every  part 
of  the  broken  rock,  but  there  was  not  a  particle  on  the 
dump.  The  colonel  said  it  was  so  valuable  that  he  shipped 
it  all  out. 

Mr.  Campbell  asked,  "How  did  you  get  up  to 
blast  that  hole  ?" 

"Oh,"  replied  the  Colonel,  "I  had  a  long  ladder." 

"Get  it,"  said  Mr.  Campbell,  "that  I  may  see  it 
at  close  view.  That  looks  like  a  veritable  bonanza." 

"I  am  sorry,"  replied  the  Colonel,  "but  I  took  the 
ladder  to  town  to  keep  any  one  from  getting  up  there 
and  seeing  what  a  big  thing  I  have  opened.  I  cannot 
afford  to  have  any  one's  attention  called  to  this  till  I  get 
the  assessment  done  and  the  record  made.  When  the 
proper  time  comes  I  shall  build  a  permanent  approach 
'to  it." 

On  their  way  back  to  town  the  Colonel  continued: 
"Mr.  Campbell,  it  is  a  shame  that  I  must  go  out  and  cash 
my  draft  before  I  work  my  assessment  and  record  this 
claim.  I  am  really  afraid  I  shall  lose  it.  If  you  will 
squeeze  out  enough  money  to  buy  the  powder  and  sup- 
plies and  do  the  recording,  I  will  put  your  name  on  the 
stake  for  half,  and  I  shall  do  the  work  myself." 

Mr.  Campbell  answered  that  that  was  a  very  gen- 
erous proposition,  and  if  he  had  the  money  he  would 
jump  at  the  opportunity,  but  said  if  he  did  not  object 
he  would  get  his  friend,  Mr.  Wickham,  to  come  up  and 
look  at  it,  and  he  felt  sure  he  would  advance  whatever 
was  necessary. 

"No,  no,"  said  the  colonel,  "beware,  guard  yourself, 
young  man,  lest  these  wide-awake  young  fellows  conclude 
that  you  are  an  unripe  infant,  precociously  grown  tall, 


AND  THE  PIONEER  355 

but  still  nourished  by  your  mother's  milk.  Of  all  coun- 
tries, this  is  the  most  uncomfortable  place  for  overgrown 
boobies,  or  Jumbo  dependents.  You  must  ever  keep 
your  eyes  toward  Uncompahgre  Peak,  but  openly  defy 
the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil,  if  you  want  a  firm 
foothold  here.  Mr.  Wickham  is  an  old  California  miner, 
and  if  a  claim  looks  just  like  the  claims  in  California, 
he  will  put  his  last  dollar  in  it,  but  if  the  claim  is  unlike 
California  mines  he  will  back-cap  it.  No,  I  wouldn't 
consent  to  that  at  all." 

Mr.  Campbell  suggested  that  if  it  would  do  him  any 
good  he  would  squeeze  him  out  ten  dollars,  and  would  give 
him  more  when  he  got  his  money. 

"That  is  better,"  answered  the  colonel,  "that  will 
record  the  claim  and  I  shall  get  the  merchants  to  carry 
me  for  the  powder."  He  eagerly  took  the  ten  dollars 
and  excused  himself  on  account  of  an  engagement. 

Mr.  Campbell  hurried  to  his  room  to  see  how  the 
precipitation  in  his  vial  was  getting  along.  He  could  see 
no  perceptible  increase  and  was  inclined  to  be  depressed, 
but  it  occurred  to  him  that  the  heavy  iron  would  run  near 
the  bottom  of  the  creek,  and  that  the  vial  was  filled  from 
the  skimming  of  the  surface.  He  wrote  his  partner 
the  condition  and  his  impressions,  and  asked  him  to  put 
his  thumb  over  the  mouth  of  a  vial  and  press  it  to  the 
bottom  of  Cement  Creek,  fill  it  from  the  undercurrent, 
and  forward  to  him  at  Colorado  Springs. 

Early  in  the  morning  the  Pilgrim  inquired,  "What 
shall  we  do  today?"  The  Pioneer  replied,  "I  am  re- 
treating;" and  they  moved  off  down  the  Lake  Fork  of 
the  Gunnison  River.  At  Barnum  they  met  the  Barlow 
and  Sanderson  stage-coach  and  dined  with  the  driver  and 
passengers. 


356  THE  PILGRIM 

Much  of  the  early  immigration  to  Lake  City,  includ- 
ing the  famous  Packer  party,  came  from  Bingham  Canon, 
Utah.  The  country  was  unsettled  between  these  distant 
points  and  the  old  inhabitants  of  Lake  City  could  always 
"spot"  a  pilgrim  from  this  canon,  as  his  hair  was  usually 
standing  out  through  the  crown  of  his  hat,  the  brim  of 
which  was  usually  gone,  the  uppers  of  his  shoes  would 
generally  be  missing  and  the  soles  tied  on  with  strips  of 
blankets,  and  his  clothing  would  be  a  mass  of  irregular 
strings. 

Just  as  the  coach  was  reloaded  for  the  drive  to 
Lake  City,  a  tipsy  Irishman  spied  such  an  one  limping  up 
the  road.  He  said : 

"Look  a-here,  driver,  there  comes  a  poor  devil  of  a 
foot-sore  pilgrim  from  Bingham  Canon,  Utah.  They  are 
always  objects  of  pity,  but  this  seems  to  be  the  most  for- 
lorn looking  one  of  the  whole  pack.  You  must  invite 
him  to  ride." 

"Oh,  no,"  -responded  the  driver,  "it  would  cost  me 
my  position  should  I  take  him  in  without  the  regular 
fare." 

"Very  well,"  responded  the  Irishman,  "you  keep  your 
eyes  on  those  unruly  leaders ;  we  will  smuggle  him  in  here, 
and  put  him  out  a  mile  this  side  of  Lake  City 
without  your  seeing  him,  and  if  the  agent  ever  hears  of 
it  every  mother's  son  of  us  will  swear  we  smuggled  him 
through  without  your  knowing  it." 

The  Irishman  quietly  invited  the  foot-sore  pilgrim 
into  the  center  seat  on  the  inside.  The  new  passenger 
really  looked  like  an  escaped  maniac.  His  personal  ap- 
pearance was  indescribable.  When  he  was  comfortably 
seated  in  the  coach  the  Irishman  bent  over  him  and 
eagerly  examined  the  matted,  sandy  hair  sticking  through 


AND  THE  PIONEER  357 

the  remains  of  a  hat,  looked  critically  at  his*  sun-blistered 
ears  under  the  brimless  crown  of  a  hat,  then  gazed  upon 
his  dirty,  blistered  feet  tied  to  the  remains  of  his  shoe  soles 
with  strings  torn  from  a  blanket;  he  then  took  a  glance 
at  the  sun-burned  and  dirty  flesh  between  the  strings  into 
which  his  clothes  were  rent  until  they  were  as  airy  as  a 
mosquito  net.  As  he  raised  his  eyes  from  the  mass  of 
rotten  rags  they  met  those  of  the  very  much  confused 
pilgrim,  and  the  Irishman  said:  "Partner,  may  I  in- 
quire whence  you  hail?"  In  a  confused  tone  the 
new  passenger  replied,  "From  Bingham  Canon,  Utah." 
The  Irishman  bent  over  him,  took  a  second  view  of  the 
matted  hair  standing  erect  through  an  immense  hole  in 
the  crown  of  his  hat,  re-examined  each  blistered,  unpro- 
tected ear,  reviewed  the  sore,  bare  feet,  resurveyed  the 
whole  exposed  body,  then  raised  his  eyes  and  confidentially 
said:  "Say,  partner,  we  have  had  many  distinguished 
immigrants  from  Bingham  Canon,  but  I  must  say  you  are 

the  best  dressed  s •  g we  have  ever  welcomed  here," 

and  proffered  him  two  dollars  with  which  to  buy  a  pair 
of  overalls  to  cover  his  dirty  and  sore  nakedness. 

The  pilgrim  sarcastically  replied  that  he  had  the 
necessary  means  to  buy  clothing,  and  said  that  he  would 
thank  some  one  to  present  him  to  a  supply  point,  rather 
than  means,  which  had  been  wholly  useless  to  him  during 
the  past  six  weeks.  This  brush-picked  and  almost  naked 
pilgrim  did  dress  up  as  soon  as  he  found  a  furnishing 
store,  and  proved  to  be  one  of  the  most  polished  gentle- 
men, and  one  of  the  ripest  scholars  who  had  entered  the 
San  Juan  country,  and  afterward  he  was  known  for  many 
years  as  one  of  the  most  forceful  and  pungent  news- 
paper writers  in  the  arid  West. 

The  Pilgrim  and  the  Pioneer  passed  over  the  high 


THE  ROYAL  GORGE. 


AND  THE  PIONEER  359 

mesa  to  the  crystal  Gunnison  River  with  its  sparkling 
pure  waters,  literally  swelling  with  black,  speckled  moun- 
tain trout,  weighing  from  one  to  five  pounds.    Here  a  nar- 
row, verdant  valley  extends  for  a  distance  of  fifty  miles, 
completely  carpeted  with  a  luxuriant  wire-grass,  and  the 
Indian  ponies  and  government  cattle,  by  their  complete 
contentment,  evinced  that  they  fully  realized  that  they 
were  in  a  stock  paradise.     In  all  of  their  travels  in  East, 
South,  or  West,  they  had  never  seen  the  equal  of  the 
mountains  around  the  Gunnison   Valley,  for  the  stores 
of  pure  gray  granite,  all  shades  of  handsome  marble,  and 
inexhaustible    mountains    of   bituminous    and    anthracite 
coal;   and   iron,   iron,   iron,   everywhere.      They   crossed 
Marshall  Pass  and  moved  down  the  Arkansas  River  to 
the  enchanting  and  picturesque  town-site  of  Canon  City. 
The  next  morning  Mr.  Campbell  said,  "Mr.  Wickham,  you 
should  take  a  trip  around  here.     The  indescribably  wild, 
gorgeous    and    magnificent   Royal    Gorge,    the   beautiful 
Arkansas   River   tumbling   out    of   the   wild   canon,    the 
charming  valleys  opening  out  below,  and  the  bewitching 
landscape,  are  enough  to  surfeit  one  on  natural  scenic 
beauty."      The   Pioneer   simply   said,   "I   am   retreating 
from  these  melancholy  relics." 

They  crossed  the  Arkansas  River  and  followed  the 
highlands  to  Pueblo.  They  tramped  over  coal,  coal,  coal, 
everywhere.  In  a  lone  basin  they  found  a  solitary  family 
that  seemed  to  have  lost  all  of  the  evidences  of  an  abund- 
ance of  this  world's  goods.  The  wife  evidently  thought 
the  travelers  were  land  hunting,  and  she  was  prepared 
for  them.  She  was  of  the  class  that  does  not  welcome 
railroads  or  settlers,  but  went  upon  the  theory  that  to 
be  monarch  of  all  one  surveyed  was  a  good  thing,  and  that 
she  would  not  divide  until  she  had  to.  Mr.  Campbell  saw 


360  THE  PILGRIM 

the  point  and  asked  the  old  woman  what  she  thought  of  the 
advisability  of  their  settling  there?  She  screwed 
the  muscles  of  her  face  close  to  her  jawbones, 
tightened  up  her  lips,  dramatically  looked  toward 
the  East,  and  said,  "Not  without  you  want  to  starve. 
Many,  many  years  ago  my  John  was  young,  strong,  and 
handsome,  like  you  are,  and  then  he  was  a  great  buffalo 
hunter.  They  were  so  plentiful  at  first  that  he  could 
sell  only  their  tongues.  When  they  'come  a  leetle  scercer 
he  could  sell  the  meat ;  then  later  he  sold  the  skin ;  and 
at  last  they  'come  so  scerce,  that  when  he  killed  one  he 
jest  pisened  the  meat  and  thousands  of  coyotes  would 
eat  of  it,  lay  down  and  die,  and  he  would  have  all  kinds 
of  money  for  their  skins.  In  time  all  the  buffalo  and  all 
the  coyotes  were  gone.  Then  we  hauled  up  their  bones 
and  sold  them  for  fertilizers  for  a  right  smart  of  money; 
but,  strangers,  every  thing  is  gone  now.  There  haint  no 
buffalo  huntin' ;  there  haint  no  pisened  coyotes ;  there 
haint  no  bone  pickin' ?  — she  put  her  apron  over  her 
streaming  eyes  and  said,  "there  haint  no  nothin' !"  The 
bluff  was  successful  and  the  new-comers  moved  on  next 
day.  It  is  probable  that  the  repeated  telling  of  that  dole- 
ful story  gave  the  cunning  authors  the  exclusive  possession 
of  that  region  for  decades. 

In  Pueblo,  while  admiring  a  railroad  engine,  repre- 
senting the  civilization  from  which  they  had  been  away 
so  long,  they  were  approached  by  the  Judge.  His  mus- 
tache was  waxed,  his  hair  curled,  and  he  was  dressed  in 
the  height  of  fashion.  The  sight  of  the  Judge  caused 
the  Pioneer's  face  to  brighten  up  for  the  first  time  since 
he  was  startled  by  the  mummified  Indian.  He  cried  out, 
"Hello,  Judge;  where  are  you  from,  and  where  do  you 
live?" 


AND  THE  PIONEER  361 

"In  Pueblo." 

"What  do  you  do  here?" 

"Play  slough." 

"Not  all  the  time?" 

"No,  only  ten  hours  a  day." 

"What  do  you  play  for?" 

"The  drinks." 

''There  isn't  much  money  in  that  ?" 

"Yes,  some;  not  much." 

"How  is  this?" 

"In  Three  Star  City,  beer  is  worth  15  cents  a  glass, 
in  Pueblo,  5  cents.  Sometimes  I  catch  a  victim  not  in 
practice,  and  then  the  percentage  is  in  my  favor.  It 
takes  just  so  many  glasses  of  beer  a  day  for  me,  whether 
there  or  here." 

"Have  you  quit  politics  ?" 

"Yes." 

"Why?" 

"It  is  too  expensive,  and  the  methods  are  too  de- 
praved." 

"Is  it  worse  than  cards  for  drinks  ?" 

"Yes ;  in  cards  you  must  make  a  show  down,  and  in 
politics  you  return  your  hand  in  secret  to  the  deck. 
In  cards  you  play  with  those  who  understand  the  game, 
in  politics  you  play  with  blind-folded  novices." 

"You  don't  mean  to  say  that  you  live  by  gambling?" 

"No ;  I  sold  the  Uriah  Heap  for  $100,000  and  salted 
it  down." 

"I  should  think  that  this  competency  would  make 
you  more  anxious  to  return  to  the  Senate." 

"It  did,  but  the  methods  became  so  much  depraved 
that  I  could  not  tolerate  them." 

"How  did  your  sale  affect  political  methods  ?" 


362  THE  PILGRIM 

"The  politicians  wanted  to  assess  me  $25,000  to 
enter,  then  set  all  the  gormandizers  of  the  state  on  me 
for  the  balance." 

" You  didn't  encounter  these  methods  before  ?" 

"Yes;  they  took  all  I  had  and  clamored  for  more. 
I  have  sold  the  Uriah  Heap  since." 

"Who  does  this  fleecing?" 

"Everybody.  Political  influences  are  bought,  not 
convinced." 

"You  don't  pretend  that  the  legislators  are  pur- 
chased?" 

"Yes ;  many  of  them,  more  than  once.  Don't  all 
stay  bought." 

"I  should  think  that  they  would  be  exposed." 

"They  are,  but  the  people  haven't  public  conscience 
enough  to  know  a  political  sale  when  made  before  their 
eyes." 

"You  don't  hire  a  man  to  vote  for  you  as  you  would 
a  plowman  to  fallow  your  field  ?" 

"Not  exactly;  only  one  hires  a  plowman  for  a  job, 
often  several  candidates  hire  a  legislator." 

"You  don't  mean  that  members  of  the  legislature 
agree  with  more  than  one  candidate  for  pay?" 

"Not  directly;  indirectly,  yes." 

"What's  the  form  of  his  contract." 

"The  nominee  appeals  to  the  Senatorial  candidate 
for  his  expenses  in  the  campaign,  or  accepts  them  from 
him.  Among  honest  men  this  is  regarded  as  equivalent 
to  a  bill  of  sale.  Often  you  find  a  member  that  collects 
his  election  expenses  two  or  three  times,  from  as  many 
candidates.  You  usually  have  to  buy  him  again  after 
election,  or  agents  of  corporations  offer  him  places  with 
high  salaries  in  the  corporation  for  his  vote." 


AND  THE  PIONEER  363 

"You  don't  mean  that  men  generally  accept  election 
expenses  from  candidates  before  election,  or  ever  sell 
their  influence  for  corporate  places?" 

"I  do.  There  were  only  two  or  three  exceptions  in 
my  race.  A  Methodist  minister,  with  a  charge,  eagerly 
accepted  $150 ;  but,  to  his  credit,  he  stayed  bought.  The 
railroads  are  stocked  with  local  surgeons  and  attorneys 
who  have  sold  their  legislative  influences  for  these  places. 
With  places  and  passes  the  railroads  run  the  politics  of 
the  nation." 

"I  should  think  from  your  long  association,  steadfast 
friendship,  and  persistent  efforts  for  all  the  labor  meas- 
ures in  the  Senate,  that  the  labor  electors  alone  would 
re-elect  you." 

"That  betrays  your  political  ignorance.  They  are  as 
needy  as  men  in  the  so-called  higher  ranks  of  the  'Social 
Order.'  " 

"You  don't  mean  to  say  that  a  labor  journal  like  the 
Gazette  could  be  taken  from  you  ?" 

"The  manager  informed  me  that  he  was  very  hard 
up,  and  had  been  offered  $1,000  not  to  meddle  in  politics 
this  year." 

"This  did  not  imply  a  sale  ?" 

"It  meant  that  if  I  didn't  raise  the  bid,  the  Ga- 
zette would  stay  out  of  the  game." 

"You  don't  think  that  such  a  labor  advocate  as 
John  Lindholm  could  be  turned  from  you  ?" 

"He  informed  me  that  he  had  a  mortgage  on  his 
house  for  $1,500,  that  was  about  to  be  foreclosed;  that 

the  —  had -offered  him  $50  a  night  and  expenses 

to  work  with  the  Labor  forces  the  last  six  weeks  before 
election,  and  he  asked  me  what  I  thought  about  it?" 

"This  didn't  mean  that  he  would  sell  ?" 


364  THE  PILGRIM 

"It  meant  that  if  I  didn't  raise  the  bid  I  would 
lose  the  pot." 

"Such  men  as  work  in  the  mines  and  smelters,  for 
whom  you  have  made  such  desperate  efforts  for  a  shorter 
work  day,  couldn't  be  turned  against  you  by  such  false 
leaders?" 

"Yes,  a  large  per  cent  could  be.  By  a  fraudulent  use 
of  the  phrase  'Rum,  Romanism,  and  Rebellion/  a  presi- 
dential candidate  was  defeated.  In  my  campaign,  one  of 
these  employed  leaders  went  to  one  of  the  big  mines, 
worked  almost  exclusively  by  Democratic  Irish  miners,  and 
quietly  informed  them  the  night  before  election,  that 
he  had  heard  my  opponent  say  that  he  didn't  need  or  want 
a  single  Irish  vote  in  the  election.  This  was  utterly  false, 
and  yet  I  received  practically  every  Irish  Democratic  vote 
in  that  mine." 

"Then  the  voter  is  not  bought,  but  deceived  ?" 

"Exactly.  The  leaders,  in  whom  they  misplace  their 
confidence,  are  bought,  and  they  manipulate  the  voters  by 
fraud  and  falsehood." 

"It  seems  that  you  received  the  fruits  of  much  of 
this  infamy  in  your  election." 

"I  certainly  did.  Influential  men  bought  the  mine 
managers  and  the  Labor  organizations  were  arranged  with 
in  numerous  places  for  my  benefit.  I  know  of  one  organiza- 
tion that  offered  to  the  manager  of  the  gubernatorial  candi- 
date, a  choice  of  three  of  the  Labor  places  at  his  disposal, 
for  certain  majorities  for  our  ticket.  The  places  were 
won  and  awarded." 

"Is  it  any  less  a  purchase  if  men  work  for  places 
instead  of  money  ?" 

"No;  it  is  bribery  in  either  case.  In  trading  offices 
the  credulity  of  the  people  seems  more  obtuse." 


AND  THE  PIONEER  365 

"I  should  think  with  your  fortune  that  you  could  play 
the  game  of  politics  more  successfully  now  than  when 
you  were  poor." 

"Ah,  so  I  could,  if  I  were  willing  to  deplete  this 
fortune.  If  I  should  go  in  now,  the  committees  would 
not  only  tax  me  in  proportion  to  my  holdings,  but  they 
would  set  every  political  grafter  in  this  state  upon  me, 
and  every  eleemosynary,  or  quasi-charitable,  institution  in 
the  state  would  importune  me  just  before  election,  and  in  a 
few  years  I  should  be  picked  as  naked  as -a  spring  jay; 
so  that  I  infinitely  prefer  the  more  honorable  and  orderly 
game  of  'slough/  to  the  infamous  game  of  modern  pol- 
itics." 

"Then,  who  should  go  into  politics  ?" 

"The  man  with  nothing,  or  the  man  with  a  surplus  to 
distribute  among  the  grafters." 

"Why  do  the  people  permit  such  ignoble  trafficking 
in  public  places  ?" 

"Because  the  social  evolution  has  not  builded  a  public 
conscience  and  they  do  not  clearly  see  the  infamy." 

"Why  have  you  so  changed  your  political  morals 
since  you  worked  with  the  negro  delegate  ?" 

"I  had  but  little  then,  and  was  benefiting  from  ex- 
penditures of  others.  I  have  more  now,  and  others  want 
to  benefit  from  my  expenditures." 

"Then,  it  is  not  a  question  of  political  morality,  but 
one  of  political  expediency  with  you  ?" 

"Yes.  One  who  plays  the  game  of  politics  must 
use  the  current  cards  or  stay  out.  These  elevated  pre- 
tentions  and  high-sounding  words,  from  the  president 
to  the  constable,  are  largely  deceptive  plays  in  the  game 
of  cheap  politics,  but  the  deluded  public  take  them  se- 
riously." 


366  THE  PILGRIM 

"What  is  the  remedy?" 

"Let  the  people  build  a  public  conscience,  let  the 
office. hunt  the  man  and  require  of  every  applicant  as  a 
condition  before  receiving  the  votes  of  the  people,  that 
he  practice  the  same  rectitude  in  his  political  methods  as 
a  reputable  business  man  does  in  his  business  methods. 
Then  strong  individualism  will  supplant  the  spoils- 
man in  public  place,  and  the  people,  instead  of  being  de- 
ceived by  the  political  grafters,  will  be  well  served." 

"I  presume  the  mental  improvement  in  the  greatest 
deliberative  body  in  the  world  causes  this  spirited  fight 
for  the  Senate." 

"The  greatest  fiddlestick!  It  is  a  mere  rusting  ma- 
chine. It  has  been  subverted  by  the  executive  into  a  mere 
machine  to  register  his  will." 

"The  Constitution  provides  that  the  Executive,  Ju- 
dicial, and  Legislative  branches  shall  be  independent  and 
co-ordinate,  does  it  not?" 

"Yes;  then  clothes  the  Executive  branch  with  the 
social  and  patronage  functions  of  the  government  with 
which  to  destroy  the  others." 

"The  president  can't  hurt  a  senator  ?  He  is  elected 
by  the  local  Legislature." 

"He  can  withdraw  his  social  recognition  from  him 
and  his  family,  neglect  to  recognize  him  in  the  distribution 
of  patronage,  and  set  all  of  his  timber  agents,  pension 
agents,  revenue  collectors,  district  attorneys,  marshals, 
land  officers,  and  postmasters  against  his  re-election. 
These  are  the  fellows  who  make  or  unmake  senators,  and 
the  president  controls  them." 

"You  don't  mean  to  tell  me  that  you  rusted  out 
the  six  years  that  you  were  in  Washington  in  this  way  ?" 

"Oh,  no ;  I  almost  ran  my  legs  off  doing  errands  for 


AND  THE  PIONEER  367 

the  people  that  I  couldn't  be  hired  to  do  for  them  at  home, 
and  wouldn't  do  for  myself.  The  remainder  of  the 
time  I  was  distributing  patronage  and  doing  my  master's 
will." 

"Keally,  from  your  discouraging  outlook,  I  don't  see 
how  any  one  can  afford  to  hold  this  office." 

"A  man  with  a  surplus  of  money  might  hold  it,  and 
make  it  a  kind  of  a  club  to  occupy  his  time  when  not  en- 
gaged in  his  social  functions,  and  the  man  with  nothing, 
and<  without  the  power  of  accumulating  for  himself,  might 
hold  it  and  do  the  errands." 

Mr.  Wickham,  with  a  smile,  heartily  shook  hands 
with  the  Judge,  and  informed  him  that  he  was  able  to 
separate  from  him  with  a  much  higher  regard  for  his 
political  virtues,  than  he  entertained  the  day  he  lost  the 
negro  delegate. 

The  Pilgrim  and  the  Pioneer  followed  the  Fountain 
up  to  the  well-known  sites  of  Colorado  Springs,  Manitou, 
and  the  Garden  of  the  Gods.  What  grandeur,  what  sub- 
limity, Nature  planted  here!  How  could  such  spots  be 
other  than  famous?  Why  shouldn't  the  traveling  world 
stop  here  and  admire  the  climax  of  Nature's  plastic  hand  ? 

Mr.  Wickham  hurried  away  to  the  postoffice,  hoping 
to  find  letters  from  his  daughters.  He  found  letters  from 
his  sons-in-law,  gushing  in  affection  and  solicitude  for  his 
well-being,  and  giving  various  excuses  for  their  wives' 
silence. 

This  cut  the  Pioneer  to  the  quick.  It  soon  occurred 
to  him,  however,  that  they  were  simply  wrapped  up  in 
their  husbands  and  had  pushed  them  forward  to  do  the 
writing.  He  thought  of  how  Bluejay  had  followed  him 
through  the  mountains  and  was  oblivious  of  the  existence 
of  her  kind  father,  Hopping  Antelope,  until  her  husband 


368  THE  PILGRIM 

had  tried  to  install  her  in  a  well  furnished  house,  which 
seemed  like  trying  to  train  a  fish  to  love  the  dry  land. 
He  said,  "Oh!  This  Caucasian  blood  is  sterling  stuff. 
Poor  things !  they  are  happy  with  their  grateful  husbands, 
and  that  is  some  consolation.  I  hope  there  will  be  some 
marked  improvement  in  their  children.  Blood  in  animals 
and  blood  in  human  beings  will  tell  its  own  fateful  story." 

At  beautiful,  wild,  picturesque  Manitou,  they  sur- 
feited on  the  grandeurs  of  snow-capped  peaks,  cascades, 
wild  torrents,  huge  stone  castles,  balanced  rocks,  moun- 
tain glens,  nature-built  amphitheaters,  and  other  rare 
scenic  beauties  that  have  few,  if  any,  parallels. 

They  found  as  many  different  kinds  t  of  water  here, 
at  the  base  of  Pike's  Peak,  as  there  were  colors  in  Joseph's 
coat. 

They  drank  and  bathed  in  energetic,  bubbling  springs, 
as  they  boiled  out  from  its  base,  with  their  gurgling,  im- 
patient waters  charged  heavily  with  sulphur,  magnesia, 
soda',  lime,  iron,  and  every  other  ingredient  forming  the 
majestic  Pike's  Peak. 

Ah,  after  all,  what  is  this  famous  peak  but  a  mighty 
heap  of  tired,  sluggish  gas,  loitering  here  for  a  brief 
period,  then  disintegrating  and  returning  to  the  gaseous 
state  and  disseminating  itself  among  the  elements  in  a 
thousand  ways.  Millions  of  tons  of  this  gigantic  peak  are 
corroding  and  tumbling  from  the  outer  crust  and  floating 
away  to  the  low  lands.  Millions  of  tons  of  sulphur,  iron, 
silica,  magnesia,  soda,  lime,  and  the  other  ingredients, 
from  the  very  foundation  stones  of  Pike's  Peak,  are  dis- 
solving, leaching  out,  and  spurting  through  these  springs, 
and  floating  away  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

The  sparrows  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  those  of 
New  Orleans,  grind  their  grass  seed  with  millstones  taken 


AND  THE  PIONEER  369 

from  Pike's  Peak.  Every  passing  tourist,  whether  from 
Boston,  New  York,  Paris,  London,  Berlin,  or  elsewhere, 
carries  away  in  his  stomach  a  block  of  Pike's  Peak  in 
solution.  The  travelers  abiding  here,  feasted  their  eyes 
on  Pike's  Peak ;  they  climbed  Pike's  Peak ;  they  washed 
their  faces  with  Pike's  Peak;  they  departed  with  their 
stomachs  filled  with  Pike's  Peak.  What,  but  Time  or 
Eternity,  is  immune  to  disintegration  or  change? 

The  Pilgrim  and  the  Pioneer  moved  over  to  Colorado 
Springs.  On  the  main  street  they  found  little  knots  of 
people  gathered  on  every  corner  engaged  in  most  earnest 
conversation.  The  new  visitors  hung  around  the  out- 
skirts and  listened  that  they  might  learn  the  chief  topic 
of  interest.  They  were  surprised  to  learn  that  the  gist 
of  the  excitement  was  to  find  some  means  of  getting 
an  intoxicating  drink  and  of  discovering  a  legal  way  for 
property  holders  to  rent  their  premises  for  saloon  pur- 
poses without  losing  the  title  to  their  land  under  the 
prohibitory  clause  in  the  deed.  When  the  deeds  to  lots 
in  Colorado  Springs  were  issued  by  the  town  company,  a 
clause  was  inserted  forfeiting  the  title  if  at  any  time 
whisky  or  intoxicants  were  permitted  to  be  sold  on  the 
premises.  The  timid  were  afraid  and  hesitated,  but  the 
bold  declared  the  prohibitory  clause  unconstitutional,  de- 
fied the  provision,  were  prosecuted  and  lost  their  property 
under  a  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States.  All  kinds  of  wheels,  holes  in  the  ground,  and 
other  devices  were  contrived  to  get  intoxicants.  The 
prohibition  clause  seemed  to  germinate  the  same  appetite 
for  the  forbidden  drink  that  the  prohibition  against  Adam 
and  Eve's  tasting  of  the  apple  had  done  in  the  Garden  of 
Eden.  What  is  there  in  human  nature  that  causes  us 
instantly  to  crave  forbidden  fruit? 

THK  PILGRIM.— 24 


370  THE  PILGRIM 

Court  was  in  session.  A  man  was  being  tried  for 
stealing  a  horse.  He  had  a  great  word  painter  defending 
him.  The  lawyer  tinted  and  flowered  the  entire  prairie, 
and  finally  worked  himself  up  to  the  Garden  of  the  Gods, 
where  the  thief  was  apprehended,  and  in  a  great  burst 
of  eloquence,  exclaimed,  "Why  hasn't  this  defendant,  a 
fair  representative  of  the  noblest  work  of  God,  a  right  to 
inhabit  the  Lord's  parlor  ?"  What  a  perfect  picture !  Is 


THE  GARDEN  OF  THE  GODS. 

there  a  spot  on  this  footstool  more  entitled  to  be  designated 
as  the  Lord's  parlor  ?  However,  the  connecting  of  the  thief 
with  this  beautiful  appellation  irritated  Judge  Huntley 
who  responded  that  it  was  very  unfortunate  for  the  Lord 
that  His  parlor  was  sometimes  inhabited  by  horse  thieves. 
Colorado  Springs  at  this  time  had  a  celebrity  in  the 
person  of  one  Sm  alley,  a  foot-racer.  In  the  evening  a 
gang  of  men  came  down  from  the  saw-mill,  secured  con- 
siderable of  the  forbidden  beverage,  and  at  once  began  to 
malign  the  favorite,  offering  to  wager  any  sum  of  money 


AND  THE  PIONEER  371 

that  one  of  their  "loggers"  could  beat  him  in  a  hundred 
yard  foot-race.  This  offer  was  soon  disseminated  among 
the  people,  and  they  came  flocking  in  from  every  quarter 
with  their  money  to  bet  on  Smalley.  Some  greedy  indi- 
viduals were  about  to  cover  more  than  one  bet  each,  but 
they  were  dragged  back  by  the  crowd  and  warned  that 
others  must  have  a  chance.  After  they  had  bet  all  of  their 
money,  they  put  up  their  jewelry. 

When  the  time  came  for  the  race  the  "logger"  stripped 
down,  and  exhibited  a  fine  equipage  and  a  most  excellent 
athletic  development.  The  people  began  to  grow  sus- 
picious, but  it  was  too  late.  At  the  crack  of  the  pistol 
the  "logger"  trotted  over  a  hundred  yard  track  in  ten 
seconds,  looking  back  over  his  shoulder  at  his  discouraged 
antagonist.  Every  one  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  felt 
humiliated.  It  soon  leaked  out  that  the  "logger"  was  none 
other  than  Crandall,  a  celebrated  foot  racer,  who  had  been 
shipped  in  to  take  the  conceit  out,  of  Smalley  and  his 
backers.  He  at  once  became  a  hero,  even  with  those  who 
lost  their  money  on  Smalley.  They  wined,  dined,  and 
praised  him  without  stint.  Just  before  taking  his  de- 
parture he  said  to  them:  "  You  are  generous  good  fel- 
lows, game  sports,  and  I  like  you,  and  really  dislike  to 
take  your  money  from  you.  I  shall  be  at  Waco,  Texas, 
for  the  next  ninety  days,  and  if  you  see  any  opportunity 
let  me  know  and  I  shall  obey  your  call  and  help  you  win 
your  money  back."  This  gave  the  sports  great  pleasure 
and  all  of  them  accompanied  their  hero  to  the  train  and 
bade  him  Godspeed. 

In  five  or  six  weeks  a  black,  dirty,  middle-aged  man 
drove  a  bull-team  into  Pueblo.  He  had  a  tobacco-sack  full 
of  currency,  and  began  the  rounds  of  the  saloons  and  gam- 
bling houses,  boasting  that  he  could  outrun  any  one  west 


372  THE  PILGRIM 

of  the  Missouri  Kiver  for  from  one  to  five  thousand  dollars. 
Some  one  immediately  informed  the  sports  of  Colorado 
Springs,  and  inquired  for  the  whereabouts  of  Crandall. 
He  was  soon  located.  The  teamster's  money  was  ordered 
taken  by  the  thousands.  On  the  day  of  the  race,  trains 
were  loaded  from  Colorado  Springs  to  Pueblo,  and  when 
they  got  upon  the  ground  they  almost  fought  for  an 
equitable  division  of  the  bets  among  those  who  lost  on 
Smalley.  The  race  was  run  just  as  the  train  was  pulling 
out  for  the  East.  The  teamster  beat  Crandall  as  easily 
as  Crandall  beat  Smalley,  and  as  he  ran  out  at  the  lower 
end  of  the  track  he  stepped  aboard  the  train  and  was 
whirled  across  the  plains  while  his  partner  remained  to 
collect  the  money  and  jewelry  so  lavishly  put  up  by  the 
second  time  deluded  sports  of  Colorado  Springs. 

Any  reasonable  person  would  have  said  "enough,"  but 
the  inveterate  gambler  rarely  benefits  by  experience.  Some 
of  the  duped  ones,  in  after  years  in  the  San  Juan  country, 
conceived  the  idea  of  getting  up  a  race  between  a  fast  and 
an  ordinary  runner  and  giving  the  faster  one  a  large  per- 
centage of  the  earnings  to  have  him  "throw"  the  race. 
All  arrangements  were  made  for  the  race  to  take  place 
in  Ouray;  the  leaders  bet  much  money  on  the  slower 
man.  Before  the  race  was  run  one  of  the  backers  of  the 
slower  man  sold  out  to  the  other  side  and  gave  the  whole 
thing  away,  and  the  innocent  backers  of  the  faster  runner 
offered  him  the  same  percentage  on  their  winnings  and 
warned  him  that  if  he  did  not  win  they  would  kill  him  on 
the  track.  He  said  that  if  he  did  win  the  other  side  would 
kill  him  on  the  track.  They  assured  him  he  should  be 
protected  and  that  they  would  provide  a  fleet  horse  at 
the  end  of  the  track  which  he  could  mount  and  thus  be 
away  from  harm  before  his  co-conspirators  could  realize 


AND  THE  PIONEER  373 

that  he  had  "thrown"  them.  The  backers  of  the  faster  man 
lined  up  along  the  track  with  revolvers  drawn,  and  as  he 
passed  they  fired  over  his  head,  shouting,  "Win  or  we  will 
kill  you."  The  faster  man  darted  over  the  track  away  in  the 
lead,  mounted  the  waiting  horse,  and  made  a  wild  break 
for  the  railroad  at  Ifontrose. 

His  co-conspirators  were  wild  with  wrath  when 
they  found  he  had  "thrown"  the  race  and  escaped. 
They  hurried  to  a  justice's  office  for  a  warrant. 
The  justice  declined  to  place  the  expense  on  the  peo- 
ple ;  they  paid  the  expense  and  obtained  the  warrant,  and 
hurried  to  the  sheriff ;  he  declined  to  follow  at  the  expense 
of  the  community.  They  begged  to  be  appointed  special 
deputies  to  serve  this  warrant.  The  sheriff  readily  ap- 
pointed them;  they  secured  horses  and  reached  3!ontrose 
just  after  the  train  had  pulled  out  with  their  betrayer. 
There  was  only  one  train  a  day  between  Montrose  and 
Gunnison,  a  distance  of  sixty  miles.  They  telegraphed 
a  description  of  the  culprit  to  the  marshal  at  Gunnison, 
and  directed  his  arrest.  The  marshal  arrested  a  man  an- 
swering the  description,  and  the  special  deputies  took  the 
next  train  for  Gunnison.  When  they  reached  Gunnison 
the  next  day,  they  were  astonished  to  find  that  the  marshal 
had  dragged  a  California  tourist  from  the  car  and  put 
him  in  jail,  while  the  real  culprit  was  then  spinning  over 
the  T>lnins  of  Kansas. 

The  inexperienced  ones  will  say  that  these  men, 
after  being  duped  three  times,  quit  the  wager.  O,  no!  a 
man  with  a  mania  for  gambling  never  quits  as  long  as 
he  has  a  dollar  or  can  borrow  or  steal  one.  The  passion 
becomes  a  disease  that  rages  and  drives  the  victim  on  to 
inexorable  ruin.  Every  inclination  of  the  young  to  haz- 
ard anything,  however  valueless,  on  a  game  of  chance  or 


374  THE  PILGRIM 

on  speed  of  horses,  etc.,  should  be  guarded  as  one  would 
guard  him  against  exposure  to  small-pox  or  some  other 
virulent  disease. 

Mr.  Oampbell  patiently  waited  for  weeks  for  his  vial 
of  iron  water,  taken  from  the  bottom  of  the  stream,  but  it 
did  not  arrive.  He  then  wrote  an  inquiry  to  the  post- 
master of  Silverton.  He  received  a  prompt  reply  to  the  ef- 
fect that  his  partner  was  a  human  scavenger,  a  professional 
fleecer,  constantly  inveigling  strangers  into  some  fraud- 
ulent scheme,  and  that  recently  he  had  deceived  so  many 
people  into  putting  up  money  for  him  to  work  the  assess- 
ment, locate,  and  record  some  mineral  colored  water,  that 
he  had  been  driven  from  the  camp.  This  letter  greatly 
humiliated  Mr.  Campbell  and  caused  him  to  regret  sorely 
that  he  had  allowed  a  fakir  to  talk  him  out  of  consulting 
his  trusted  friend,  Wickham.  As  for  the  supposedly  value- 
less character  of  the  mineral  water  this  did  not  worry  him. 
He  felt  that  the  value  of  the  prospect  at  Lake  City  was 
sufficient  and  that  there  could  be  no  question  about  this. 
He  immediately  wrote  to  Col.  Harry  Randall  inquiring  as 
to  looks  of  claim,  if  he  had  worked  assessment,  staked, 
recorded,  etc.,  but  got  no  reply/  He  wrote  the  post- 
master about  this  second  partner.  The  postmaster  replied 
immediately  to  the  effect  that  Col.  Harry  Randall  came 
to  Lake  City  with  a  bogus  draft  for  $5,000,  borrowed 
all  the  money  he  could  get  on  this,  obtained  whisky,  board, 
lodging,  etc.,  on  it  until  the  people  became  suspicious  and 
shut  down  on  him;  that  the  Colonel,  as  a  denier  resorte 
for  money,  went  up  to  a  high  cliff  up  Henson  Creek,  took 
a  long  ladder,  went  up  thirty  odd  feet  above  the  ground, 
blasted  out  a  pot-like  hole  in  the  cliff,  got  a  piece  of  galena 
from  the  Ule  mine  and  vigorously  rubbed  it  over  the  fresh- 
ly broken  rocks,  thus  giving  it  the  appearance  of  a  body  of 


AND  THE  PIONEER  375 

sparkling  solid  ore ;  then  removed  the  ladder,  took  a  min- 
ister from  Chicago  up  there,  showed  him  the  glistening 
ore,  got  an  advance  of  $300  for  working  capital,  etc. ;  that 
some  miners  built  a  ladder,  went  up  to  the  hole  to  try  to 
get  the  direction  of  the  claim  that  they  might  locate  an 
extension,  discovered  the  deception,  exposed  it,  and  the 
miners  had  driven  Col.  Randall  out  of  the  country. 
The  receipt  of  this  letter  completely  humiliated  and  pros- 
trated Mr.  Campbell. 

"Ah,"  said  he,  "the  old  adage,  'Protect  me  from  my 
friends/  should  read,  'Protect  me  from  those  who  warn 
me  against  the  counsel  and  advice  of  my  true  and  wise 
friends.'  " 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

GOING  TO  THE  LEADVILLE  BOOM. 

For  many,  many  years  a  few  faithful  miners  had 
sluiced  for  gold  near  the  head  of  the  Arkansas  Eiver  in 
California  Gulch  during  the  warm  summer  months,  trap- 
ped for  furs  on  the  river,  or  gone  over  to  the  Gunnison 
Valley  and  trapped  there  during  the  deep  snows  in  the 
gulch,  which  lasted  about  eight  months  of  the  year.  By 
and  by  H.  A.  W.  Tabor  and  August  Rischie  discovered 

the  Little  Pittsburg  lode the  Iron  — '• of 

fabulous  value  in  lead,  copper,  silver,  and  gold,  thereby 
establishing  the  fact  that  the  chief  wealth  of  this  region 
was  contained  in  quartz  or  carbonates  and  not  in  pure 
nuggets  of  gold  found  in  the  loose  gravel,  as  had  been  as- 
sumed for  a  generation.  Most  sensational  reports  of  the 
new  Eldorado  were  flashed  over  the  wires,  and  miners, 
prospectors,  and  speculators  started  a  crusade  from  every 
leading  mineral  country  from  Maine  to  California.  Bar- 
low &  Sanderson  lined  the  road  with  stage  coaches,  feed 
wagons,  etc. ;  all  available  wagons,  saddle-horses,  and  bur- 
ros supplemented  the  coaches,  and  tens  of  thousands  footed 
it  with  their  provisions  and  bedding  on  their  backs. 

The  Pilgrim  and  the  Pioneer  joined  the  stage-coach 
passengers.  In  anxiety  and  intensity  of  desire  .and  deter- 
mination, this  army  of  wealth  seekers  equaled  the  most  en- 
thusiastic descriptions  given  of  the  most  famous  crusades 
to  the  Holy  Land.  While  the  fortune  hunters  did  not  have 
to  meet  human  enemies  with  battle  axes  or  spears,  they 

had  most  trying  encounters  with  mud,  snow,  inclement 

(377) 


378  THE  PILGRIM 

weather,  and  deprivation  of  shelter,  and  were  at  constant 
war  with  cold  and  hunger.  But  the  great  elixir  of  life — 
hope — held  them  up  to  a  courage  equal  to  any  emergency. 
A  town,  called  Leadville,  went  up  like  magic.  In  a  few 
weeks  every  necessity  of  life  could  be  had,  but  at  exalted 
prices.  Prospectors  and  stakes  soon  covered  the  surround- 
ing hills,  and  new  strikes  were  daily  reported  in  sufficient 
numbers  to  keep  the  excitement  at  fever  heat.  Many 
miners  and  prospectors  went  to  bed  at  night  penniless  and 
were  awakened  in  the  morning  by  helpers  or  partners 
and  informed  that  a  fortune  had  been  uncovered  in  their 
claims  during  the  night.  The  sole  topic  of  conversation 
among  men,  women,  and  children  was  mining  prospects 
or  fortunate  strikes.  Every  one  had  his  pockets  loaded 
with  mineral  specimens  and  every  one  verily  believed  that 
by  running  a  few  feet  in  on  his  claim  he  would  uncover 
a  fortune.  How  many  sad  disappointments  awaited  the 
development!  The  whole  system  of  life  was  reduced  to 
a  rough  and  tumble  scramble.  All  kinds  of  wages  were 
enormously  high,  and  no  one  seemed  to  place  any  partic- 
ular value  on  small  sums  of  money.  But  little  change 
was  made  for  less  amounts  than  a  quarter  of  a  dollar. 
Every  one  was  playing  for  a  fortune  or  nothing. 
Life  was  a  pandemonium,  a  raging,  mercenary  fever.  The 
candles  of  life  were  rapidly  burning  at  both  ends  with 
all  classes  and  sexes.  When  they  arrived,  there  were  thous- 
ands and  thousands  on  the  ground.  A  few  weeks'  resi- 
dence in  this  fast  life  inflated  the  inhabitant  with  the  con- 
soling thought  that  he  was  an  old-timer.  The  Pilgrim 
and  the  Pioneer  soon  met  many  whom  they  had  known 
just  a  few  weeks  before  in  the  San  Juan,  but  these  had 
become  cosmopolitan  and  would  hardly  admit  that  they 
had  ever  lived  elsewhere  than  in  Leadville.  This  was  the 


AND  THE  PIONEER  379 

first  real  boom  on  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Rockies  that 
had  untold  mineral  wealth  at  the  very  grass  roots  to  hack 
up  and  perpetuate  the  hoom.  The  first  to  reach  the  for- 
tunate spot  attributed  their  early  arrival  to  a  superior 
foresight  and  therefore  they  manifested  some  egotism. 

The  people  quickly  organized  municipal  government, 
appointed  officers,  etc.  It  has  been  most  common  in  the 
early  days  of  the  mining-camps  of  the  west  to  select 
as  marshals  or  deputy  marshals  some  desperate  ''man-kil- 
lers," some  one  famed  for  carrying  a  number  of  human 
scalps  in  his  belt.  This  reputation  deterred  the  bad  men  and 
if  the  unsavory  marshal  ever  killed  any  one,  it  was  one  of 
his  own  ilk.  These  lawless  appointees  who  have  been 
trusted  with  such  positions,  thoroughly  protected  the  law- 
abiding  citizens.  A  district  attorney  prosecuted  to  a  con- 
viction an  old  man  and  his  two  sons  for  stealing  some 
hogs.  They  were  fined  for  petit  larceny.  After  they 
paid  their  fine  the  district  attorney  rented  them  a  valuable 
ranch.  When  asked  the  meaning  of  this,  he  said,  "They 
have  the  reputation  of  being  hard  workers  and  there  is  a 
strain  of  honor  among  thieves.  They  may  steal  from  the 
neighbors,  but,  under  the  circumstances  of  my  trusting 
them,  they  will  not  steal  from  me."  He  related  that  he 
had  long  had  a  herd  of  valuable  horses  running  upon  a 
range  infested  with  horse  thieves;  that  he  went  to  the 
leading  suspect  and  hired  him  to  take  care  of  his  horses, 
and,  while  his  neighbors  lost  many  of  their  horses,  he 
never  lost  one.  Even  thieves  and  cut-throats  seem  to  be 
favorably  affected  by  the  reposing  of  a  trust  in  them. 

After  the  Pilgrim  and  the  Pioneer  had  been  offered 
enough  whisky,  beer,  and  cigars  to  kill  a  company  of 
soldiers,  if  they  had  consumed  the  offerings  in  one  day, 
Hon.  T.  0.  Hiskock  invited  them  to  dine  with  him  at  an 


380  THE 


improvised  private  residence.  Mr.  Campbell  called  a 
bootblack  and  started  him  to  polishing  his  shoes.  The 
Hon.  T.  M.  Sothern,  a  leading  lawyer  who  had  lately 
moved  from  one  of  the  small  San  Juan  camps  to  the 
greatest  mining-camp  in  the  West,  with  the  usual  assump- 
tion of  those  living  in  larger  towns,  approached  the  busy 
scene  just  as  one  shoe  was  being  finished,  and  inquired: 
"Young  man,  do  you  know  whose  shoes  you  are  blacking  ?" 
The  bootblack  replied:  "No,  and  I  don't  care  a  -  ." 
"Well,"  answered  Mr.  Sothern,  "I  don't  want  to  interfere 
with  your  business,  but  I  would  advise  you  to  collect  your 
money  before  you  do  your  work.  That  fellow  is  a  tinhorn 
from  the  San  Juan  country,  who  never  pays  a  bootblack 
or  anyone  else  ;"  then  he  unconcernedly  walked  away  to  a 
waiting  crowd. 

The  boy  raised  his  brush  and  looked  Mr.  Campbell 
straight  in  the  eye  and  said,  "I'll  be  blamed  if  you  don't 
look  a  little  like  a  tinhorn.  I  guess  you'd  better  put  up." 

"O,  no,"  responded  Mr.  Campbell;  "There  are  just 
two  bad  paymasters  —  one  who  pays  before  the  work  is 
done,  and  the  one  who  never  pays  at  all." 

"I  golly,"  retorted  the  bootblack,  "I  think  you  are 
one  of  the  latter  class,"  threw  his  kit  on  his  shoulder  and 
went  off  up  the  street,  whistling,  leaving  Mr.  Campbell 
with  one  polished  shoe.  Mr.  Sothern  and  his  waiting 
crowd  pounced  upon  Mr.  Campbell,  dragged  him  into  a 
saloon  and  drank  two  or  three  dollars'  worth  at  his  ex- 
pense. 

As  soon  as  possible  Mr.  Campbell  returned  to  the 
street  and  called  another  bootblack;  just  as  he  got 
down  to  his  work  Mr.  Sothern  reappeared  and  inquired: 
"Young  man,  didn't  you  observe  this  man  had  one  shoe 
blackened?"  The  lad  answered,  "Yes,  what  of  it?" 


AND  THE  PIONEER  381 

"Why,"  said  the  lawyer,  "when  your  'pal'  got  one  shoe 
finished  he  discovered  that  he  had  hold  of  a  San  Juan 
'tin  horn7  who  used  to  'bilk'  him  down  there;  he  de- 
manded his  pay  in  advance,  was  refused,  and  quit  the  job." 
The  boy  gave  Mr.  Campbell  a  piercing  look,  and  sug- 
gested: "I  guess  you  might  as  well  pay  up  now."  Mr. 
Campbell  replied,  "Not  much."  The  young  man  threw 
his  kit  on  his  shoulder,  said  good  day,  and  moved  off  up 
the  street. 

Mr.  Sothern  and  party  dragged  their  victim  into  a 
saloon  again  and  drank  three  or  four  dollars'  worth  at  his 
expense. 

The  time  was  about  up  for  the  dinner  party  to  appear 
and  Mr.  Campbell  was  almost  frantic  about  the  conspic- 
uous condition  of  his  shoes.  He  hurried  back  to  a  street 
corner  and  a  bootblack  soon  came  along.  His  left  eye  was 
gone  and  the  right  one  elevated  to  about  an  eleven  o'clock 
sun;  his  mouth  was  cut  on  the  side  instead  of  the  center 
line  of  his  face,  and  was  connected  with  his  right  ear. 
His  front  teeth  were  large  and  set  in  double  rows,  and  he 
had  a  sharp  whine  in  a  cracked  voice,  the  right  side  of 
which  was  a  melodious  bass  and  the  left  a  rasping  tenor. 
Mr.  Campbell  inquired,  "Have  you  courage  enough  to  hold 
off  a  motley  crowd  of  hoodlums  until  you  polish  my 
shoes?"  He  piped  out,  "Ye  bit  yer  -  -  life  I  'ave," 
dropped  to  his  hands  and  knees,  and,  Quilp-like,  began 
grinding  on  the  untouched  shoe.  Mr.  Sothern  and  his 
followers  soon  appeared,  repeated  all  of  the  old  stories 
of  the  San  Juan  "tin  horn"  beating  his  pals,  the  dis- 
covery of  the  two  former  ones,  etc.,  but  the  bootblack 
never  stopped,  spoke,  nor  looked  up.  He  had  polished  the 
shoe  and  was  about  to  quit  when  he  discovered  a  small 
missed  spot  in  the  instep.  Reloading  his  dauber,  he  was 


382  THE  PILGRIM 

about  to  cover  this  when  Mr.  Sothern,  in  his  despair, 
reached  over  and  spat  right  on  the  center  of  the  shoe.  The 
bootblack,  as  quick  as  a  flash,  brought  the  loaded  dauber 
down  his  pants  from  hip  to  shoe  top,  leaving  a  black 
stripe  three  inches  wide  on  a  pair  of  expensive  light  tailor- 
made  pants.  Then  springing  to  his  feet,  with  a  large 
brush  in  his  hand,  his  mouth  wide  open,  his  eyebrows 
connected  with  his  bristle-like  head  of  hair,  and  his  double 
rows  of  teeth  shining,  he  squeaked  out,  "You — big  bluffer, 
you,  if  you  ever  interfere  with  my  business  again  I'll 
knock  the  whole  top  of  your  head  off,"  and  stepped  towards 
his  tormentor,  but  the  meddler  silently  and  hurriedly 
walked  away.  The  bootblack  finished  his  job,  got  his  pay, 
shouldered  his  kit,  and  went  up  the  street  By  this  time 
a  large  crowd  had  gathered.  They  seized  Mr.  Sothern, 
dragged  him  into  the  saloon  and  drank  at  least  five  dollars7 
worth  in  jollification  over  his  discomfiture  at  the  hands  of 
the  whining  one-eyed  and  deformed  bootblack.  The 
actual  cost  of  the  shoe  blacking  was  a  quarter  and  the  in- 
cidental expenses  were  at  least  ten  dollars. 

This  is  but  a  sample  of  the  general  rough-and-tumble 
existence  in  this  new  mining-camp — all  labeled  real  fun. 

Eeturning  from  the  dinner,  the  Pioneer  and  the 
Pilgrim  met  Mrs.  Monk,  who  cried  out,  "Why,  Joshua 
Wickham,  of  all  persons,  I  most  wanted  to  see  you.  I 
need  the  counsel  of  your  good  common  sense.  Of  course 
you  know  of  our  great  strike  in  the  Sky-Scraper  Mine  ?" 

"Yes/7  answered  Mr.  Wickham,  "I  am  delighted  to 
learn  of  your  good  fortune.  How  are  the  dear  children 
and  Mr.  Monk?" 

"Ah!"  replied  the  troubled  woman,  "the  dear  chil- 
dren are  very  well,  but  poor  Hal,  I  fear,  has  lost  his  head 
like.  You  know  we  were  carried  from  abject  poverty  to 


AND  THE  PIONEER  383 

millions  of  dollars  between  two  days,  and  I  fear  the  change 
was  too  abrupt  for  the  stability  of  the  ordinary  human 
brain ;  but  I  hope  your  even,  well-balanced  temperament 
may  veer  his  distorted  intellect  toward  the  natural  orb, 
if  you  should  come  in  contact  with  him." 

"I  make  no  pretense  of  occult  power,  but  shall  be 
glad  to  contribute  my  weak  mite  in  any  way  you  may  sug- 
gest/7 replied  Mr.  Wickham.  "When  can  I  probably  find 
him  at  home  ?" 

"Oh,  my  dear  sir !  Hal,  poor  fellow,  hasn't  been 
home  for  seven  weeks.  He  has  three  handsomely  furnished 
rooms  on  Harrison  Avenue,  and  I  am  informed  that  all 
kinds  of  unworthy  company  gather  there,  and  that  his 
money  is  being  scattered  in  every  direction." 

Mr.  Wickham  suggested  that  she  should  have  him 
adjudged  non  compos  mentis,  and  have  a  conservator  of 
his  estate  appointed,  if  he  were  in  this  condition. 

The  woman  wrung  her  hands  and  exclaimed,  "It 
can't  be  done !  It  can't  be  done,  while  Jris  .money  lasts. 
Hoards,  both  male  and  female,  are  following  him  and 
fleecing  him,  and  persuading  him  that  he  is  one  of  the 
greatest  and  most  important  characters  in  the  great  West, 
and  every  one  of  them  would  swear  that  he  is  most  bril- 
liant and  normal,  and  would  turn  upon  me  and  convict 
me  of  a  crazy,  abnormal  jealousy.  No,  there  is  no  remedy 
now  but  moral  suasion,  and  you  must  go  up  and  work 
with  him." 

The  Pioneer  went  up  to  Mr.  Monk's  apartments 
and  rang  the  bell.  A  colored  boy,  gorgeously  uniformed, 
opened  the  door  about  six  inches  and  asked,  "What  is  it, 
sir?"  Mr.  Wickham  answered,  "I  would  like  to  see 
Mr.  Monk." 

"I  fear  you  cannot  see  him;  he  is  very  busy,  sir." 


384  THE  PILGRIM 

Mr.  Wickham  wrote  on  one  of  his  cards,  "Formerly  from 
Gregory  Gulch/'  and  asked  the  boy  to  take  it  to  Mr. 
Monk. 

The  boy  soon  returned,  opened  the  door  and  invited 
him  to  "Come  right  in,  and  be  seated  in  the  reception 
room.  The  boss  will  see  you  as  soon  as  he  gets  through 
with  some  visitors  in  his  private  chamber." 

Mr.  Wickham  heard  the  constant  clicking  of  wine 
glasses,  female  voices  flooding  the  host  with  all  kinds 
of  flattery,  and  the  host's  egotistic  giggle  and  insipid  re- 
plies. 

After  a  long  wait  Mr.  Wickham  was  ushered  in.  He 
was  astonished  at  the  red  eyes,  flabby  flesh,  and  imbecile 
smile  on  the  face  of  his  old  friend. 

Mr.  Monk  gushed  over  the  Pioneer,  and  told  George 
"to  knock  off  the  neck  of  a  bottle  of  'Mum's  Dry.' ' 

Mr.  Wickham  answered,  "My  dear  Hal,  you  will 
remember  that  I  never  indulge  in  even  'Mum's  Dry.' ' 
Mr.  Monk  chucked  the  Pioneer  in  the  ribs  and  re- 
plied, "You  wifl  take  one  with  me  on  the  Sky-Scraper  ? 
You  know  I  have  money  now  to  throw  at  the  birds.  I 
will  let  you  have  all  you  want  and  you  can  pay  it  back 
whenever  you  like,  without  interest." 

The  Pioneer  took  his  glass  of  wine,  touched  it  with 
his  lips,  and  answered,  "I  shall  call  on  you  if  I  ever  need 
a  friend.  But,"  he  continued,  "my  dear  Hal,  you  look 
tired  and  worn  out.  You  should  take  Mrs.  Monk 
and  go  abroad  and  have  a  long  respite  from  these  arduous 
duties." 

Mr.  Monk  repeated  his  coarse,  silly  laugh, 
chucked  the  Pioneer  in  the  side  and  said,  "Say,  Joshua, 
I  don't  have  anything  to  do  with  Sally  any  more,  you 
know.  She's  all  right  in  a  miner's  cabin  or  at  the  wash- 


AND  THE  PIONEER  385 

board,  but  would  hardly  grace  a  piano  or  ornament  a 
parlor.  She  is  hardly  progressive  enough  for  me.  When 
I  go  to  New  York  or  Chicago,  my  friends  take  me  among 
the  Four  Hundred.  How  would  Sally  look  with  her 
number  eleven  hands  squeezed  into  a  pair  of  white  French 
gloves  ?  Or  suppose  she  should  pull  off  her  gloves  and 
my  friends'  wives  should  get  a  glimpse  of  her  red,  chubby 
fingers,  with  her  deformed  nails  that  have  run  over  a 
washboard  for  thirty  years  ?  It  would  stampede  the  com- 
pany. No,  no,  I  shall  give  her  a  hundred  thousand, 
and  she  can  put  the  children  in  Notre  Dame,  but  if  I 
should  remain  linked  to  her,  it  would  drag  me  down. 
You  know,  the  Good  Book  says,  'If  one  member 
offend  thee,  cut  it  off  and  cast  it  away,  lest  the  whole 
body  perish.'  You  know  I  can't  pull  Sally  up  to  my 
level."  He  then  pointed  to  a  picture  on  the  sideboard, 
of  a  handsome,  flashy-looking  blonde  in  full  evening  dress, 
and  said,  "Say,  Joshua,  what  do  you  think  of  this  ?  Isn't 
she  all  wool  and  a  yard  wide  ?  I  deserve  something  like 
her;  she  would  ornament  silks  and  satins,  would  grace 
diamonds  and  distinguish  parlors  anywhere.  I  could  take 
her  among  the  Four  Hundred  in  Chicago,  New  York,  or 
London,  and  create  a  sensation."  He  chucked  his  thumb 
in  the  Pioneer's  ribs,  he — he — he — ed,  and  inquired, 
"What  do  you  think  of  choice  Number  Two?" 

The  Pioneer  replied,  "My  dear  sir,  the  most  mis- 
erable creatures  anywhere  are  the  sensible  men  and  women 
who  have  inherited  great  wealth  and  have  been  forced 
by  their  environments  to  use  their  bodies  like  wax  models 
in  millinery  show  windows,  to  exhibit  fastidious  dress 
and  sparkling  diamonds.  Everywhere  are  evidences  that 
the  progeny  of  affluence  are  now  craving  useful  pursuits. 
Early  in  the  twentieth  century  inherited  wealth  will  be 


386  THE  PILGRIM 

so  common  that  the  possessors  will  cease  vieing  with  one 
another  in  highly  ornamented  corpulosities,  gorged  with 
rich  viands  and  fired  with  exhilarating  wines,  while  their 
tongues  vociferate  a  chitter-chatter  as  senseless  as  the 
superstitious  incantations  of  the  barbarians.  Moral  and 
intellectual  forces  and  well-spent  lives  will  in  the  near 
future  be  the  test  of  honor  among  all  citizens,  and  the 
change  will  come  before  the  present  fickle  social  harness 
is  set  to  your  frame.  The  labor  of  your  wife's  dignified 
and  honorably  scarred  hands,  joined  with  your  own  for 
the  past  thirty  years,  has  blazed  the  pathway  to  this  ex- 
ultant abundance.  It  is  the  refined  blood,  the  pure  heart, 
and  the  radiant  soul,  that  form  the  only  human  beauty 
that  endures.  You  are  now  daft  with  a  glowing  coun- 
tenance, a  buxom  bosom,  and  shapely  features,  stall-fed 
and  groomed  for  the  market,  as  the  ox  is  for 
the  shambles.  These  apparitions  are  gawdy,  ephem- 
eral glosses,  ornamenting  a  mere  form  of  flesh  and  bone, 
which  is  offered  in  exchange  for  your  gold.  You  are 
not  considered  or  desired.  You  are  expected  cruelly  and 
inhumanly  to  turn  your  back  upon  the  long-suffering, 
labor-wearied,  and  pure-hearted  wife  of  your  young  man- 
hood for  this  string  of  cheap  and  coarse,  though  glittering 
gew-gaws.  The  wife  of  your  youth  has  her  heart  set  upon 
your  comfort  and  well-being,  and  would  cling  the  closer 
to  you  should  you  be  returned  to  abject  poverty.  The 
new  intruder  will  only  tolerate  you  for  what  she  can 
obtain  from  your  affluence,  and  upon  any  reverse  of  for- 
tune, she  would  flee  from  you  as  from  a  contagious  pes- 
tilence." 

Mr.  Monk  broke  into  an  egotistical  "he — -he — he" 
and  answered,  aMy  dear  Joshua,  you  must  not  expect 
me  to  allow  any  feminine  inferiority  to  pull  me  down  as 


AND   THE  "PIONEER  387 

Bluejay  destroyed  your  social  and  mental  happiness. 
Think  of  taking  Sally  into  the  circle  of  the  Four  Hundred 
in  Chicago,  New  York,  or  London !  What  a  figure !  What 
a  sensation !  Think  of  pulling  off  her  number  eight  rub- 
bers and  piling  them  upon  the  number  ones  of  those  of 
my  friends'  wives.  Even  the  servants  would  scorn  her 
and  treat  me  with  contempt,  and  the  next  morning  the 
society  paper  would  cartoon  these  shoes,  large  enough  for 
a  wholesale  sign,  as  one  of  the  wonders  of  the  wearing 
apparel  of  the  Four  Hundred.  No,  Sally  is  all  right  for 
Leadville  or  any  other  mining-camp,  but  would  be  a  mill- 
stone about  my  neck,  socially,  in  Chicago,  New  York,  or 
London.  I  shall  divide  with  her  and  treat  her  justly, 
but  you  must  not  beg  me  to  commit  social  suicide  as  you 
have  done.  How  did  'The  Holy  Creed'  work  in  your  own 
case,  eh?  He — he — he — he." 

The  Pioneer  arose  to  his  feet  and  replied,  "Hal,  you 
cannot  drive  me  from  this  warning  by  holding  up  before 
me  my  conjugal  mistakes.  I  did  my  whole  duty  to  Blue- 
jay.  The  older  she  became  and  the  more  I  accumulated, 
the  better  I  treated  her  personally.  I  regret  no  personal 
sacrifices  for  Bluejay.  My  sorrow  is  not  born  of  carnal 
sensualities.  My  remorse  is  that  I  unwittingly  permitted 
the  veins  of  my  children  to  be  charged  with  barbaric 
blood.  How  culpably  thoughtless !  How  criminally  negli- 
gent !  How  excuseless  I  am !  I  had  seen  one  species  after 
another  in  the  vegetable  kingdom  degenerate  from  the 
higher,  by  mixing  the  well  selected  and  highly  cultivated 
with  the  wild  and  neglected.  I  had  seen  families  of 
animals  retrograde  from  the  higher,  by  mixing  the 
carefully  bred  with  the  wild  outcasts.  I  had  seen  the 
coarse,  uncouth  donkey  and  the  fine-haired,  keen-eyed, 
fleet-footed,  tenor-voiced,  highly  sensitive,  docile,  and 


388  THE  PILGRIM 

superb  thoroughbred  horse-family  coalesce,  and  well  knew 
that  the  offspring  was  invariably  burdened  with  the  coarse, 
woolly  hair,  with  the  narrow,  contracted  foot,  with  the 
large,  knotty  head,  with  the  long,  thick  ear,  with  the 
sluggish  sensibilities,  with  the  coarse,  rasping  bray,  and 
with  the  chubby,  unshapely  form  of  the  donkey,  the 
cruder-blooded  progenitor.  I  well  knew  that  it  was  easier 
to  dilute  or  pollute  than  to  refine.  I  was  familiar  with  the 
Ionian  philosophy  correctly  stated  at  the  dawn  of  Cau- 
casian civilization,  that  all  nature  works  by  fixed  laws. 
I  was  familiar  with  the  selection  and  care  of  motherhood 
among  early  Grecian  sires,  which  made  their  offspring 
the  most  handsome,  the  most  intellectual,  the  most  moral, 
and  the  most  normal,  known  to  mankind.  I  did  not  even 
have  the  ordinary  criminal's  excuse,  'ignorance  of  the 
law.'  O,  who  is  wise  enough  to  locate  accurately  the 
line  where  the  responsibility  of  parents  cease  and  that 
of  progeny  begins  ?  It  was  criminally  careless  in  me  to 
expect  a  preponderance  of  the  color,  form,  voice,  energy, 
or  high  aspirations  of  the  Caucasian  race  in  my  progeny. 
I  thank  God  that  all  of  my  sorrowings  are  for  those  un- 
fortunate ones,  whom  my  error  burdened  with  an  untamed 
blood  that  must  ever  keep  them  below  mediocrity.  JSTo 
change  of  condition  or  knowledge  of  my  fatal  mistake 
ever  caused  me  to  abandon  or  neglect  the  wild  mother 
whose  life  became  linked  with  mine  in  holy  wedlock. 
You,  sir,  have  no  contaminated  blood  in  your  wife,  and 
your  children  are  glorious  specimens  of  the  highest  civi- 
lized race.  You  were  contented  and  happy  until  your 
great  wealth  drew  around  you  a  hoard  of  heartless  flat- 
terers that  have  whetted  the  coarse  appetites  of  your 
lower  nature  into  loathing  of  the  honorable  means 
by  which  you  and  your  wife  reached  a  goal  which 


AND  THE  PIONEER  389 

might  be  earthly  bliss,  but  which  may  be  diverted  to  your 
complete  undoing.  The  very  fact  that  you  are  capable  of 
looking  with  contempt  upon  your  wife's  large  stubby  hands, 
bony  wrists,  and  well  developed  feet,  the  very  insignia  of 
a  well-spent  life  in  the  ranks  of  honorable  and  dignified 
toil  that  brought  you  the  gold  that  now  leads  you  to  loathe 
her,  evinces  your  imminent  danger.  You  seem  to  be  ob- 
livious of  the  good  common  sense,  the  pure  heart,  and 
the  radiant  soul,  the  rare  jewels  of  perfect  womanhood, 
that  she  developed  along  with  her  physical  organs  and 
appendages.  Link  your  fortune  with  some  passing,  glitter- 
ing physical  beauty,  because  she  has  well-poised  features, 
wears  small  bracelets,  a  number  five  glove  and  a  number 
one  slipper,  and  when  too  late,  perchance,  you  will  find 
that  her  intellect,  her  heart,  and  her  soul  are  proportion- 
ately dwarfed,  also  from  non-use.  It  is  beneficial 
use  that  develops  the  physical,  moral  and  spiritual  being 
in  harmonious  proportions." 

The  colored  boy  rushed  in  with  the  cards  of  Miss 
Mabel  Jenkins  Harrison  and  Mrs.  Ellsby,  her  favorite 
aunt. 

Mr.  Monk  responded,  "Bring  them  in,"  and 
turning  to  the  Pioneer,  said,  "You  shall  meet  the  fair  one 
of  whom  you  entertain  so  low  an  opinion,"  pointing  to 
the  picture  on  the  sideboard,  then  giggling  in  his  silly 
fashion  until  the  door  was  thrown  open.  The  women 
swept  in  and  gushingly  saluted  Mr.  Monk,  and 
Miss  Harrison  stuck  out  her  tiny  foot  and  the  colored  boy 
relieved  her  of  those  number  one  rubbers  that  had  made 
such  an  impression  on  her  host 

The  Pioneer  was  deferentially  presented,  then  Mr. 
Monk  launched  into  an  almost  constant  insipid  giggle, 
while  Miss  Harrison  pulled  a  hair  from  his  shoulder 


390  THE  PILGRIM 

here  and  there,  observing  the  color  and  length  with  appro- 
priate comments,  while  her  thoughtful  old  aunt  expati- 
ated on  his  domestic  neglect,  in  his  great  business  press- 
ure. They  expressed  their  great  disappointment  at  his 
failure  to  call  the  evening  before,  and  their  resultant  fear 
lest  he  might  be  indisposed,  hence  this  call. 

Clinking  glasses  of  "Mum's  Dry"  were  passed  and 
Miss  Harrison  daintily  sipped  her  wine,  and  with  dainty 
fingers  brushed  a  grain  of  dandruff  from  Mr.  Monk's 
collar  and  lapel  between  sips,  and  commented  upon  the 
useless  neglect  of  his  valet,  while  the  thoughtful  aunt  was 
insisting  that  Mr.  Monk  should  go  down  to  New 
York  and  take  a  much  needed  rest.  She  said  that  all 
great  men  were  quitting  all  details  in  labor  that  they 
could  hire  any  one  else  to  do,  thereby  husbanding 
their  strength  as  directors.  At  the  first  moment  of  a  lull 
Mr.  Wickham  bowed  himself  out,  convinced  that  there 
was  no  hope  for  his  friend's  rescue,  unless  the  officers  of 
the  county  would  protect  him  from  the  machinations  of 
these  women  until  he  could  get  his  mental  bearings. 

The  Pioneer  called  at  the  offices  of  the  mayor,  sheriff, 
and  judge,  successively,  and  told  what  Mrs.  Monk 
had  told  him,  and  what  he  had  seen.  One  after  another 
ridiculed  the  idea,  and  told  the  Pioneer  that  this  was 
simply  an  outburst  of  generosity ;  that  -  Mr.  Monk 
was  a  man  of  superb  intellect  and  of  unstinted  liberality ; 
that  he  was  the  typical,  generous  Western  rich  man ;  and 
that  he  was  really  one  of  the  boys,  and  no  man,  woman,  or 
child  ever  appealed  to  him  for  help  and  came  away  empty 
handed.  They  insisted  that  his  wife  was  one  of  those 
nice,  good,  New  England  women,  who  believed  in  getting 
all  she  could  out  of  the  country  without  putting  a  dollar 
back;  that  Mr.  Monk  was  the  ideal  of  every  one  in 


AND  THE  PIONEER  391 

Leadville,  and  was  making  everybody  prosperous,  while 
his  wife  was  always  trying  to  spy  around  to  see  if  any- 
body was  getting  a  dollar  out  of  him,  and  croaking  about 
his  expenditures.  Each  one  said  that  his  office  would  be 
worthless  without  Mr.  Monk,  and  each  suggested  that  if 
he  were  Mr.  Monk  he  would  quit  her. 

The  Pioneer  then  returned  to  Mrs.  Monk  and 
told  her  what  he  had  heard  and  seen,  and  her  hopeless 
condition,  and  suggested  that  she  should  permit  him  to 
get  a  divorce  and  get  all  the  alimony  possible  for  her  by 
amicable  agreement,  then  go  away  and  forget. 

Mrs.  Monk  clasped  her  temples  with  her  hands 
and  a  flood  of  tears  streamed  from  her  eyes.  She  sobbed 
aloud,  "My  last  hope  for  his  rescue  is  blasted.  O,  what 
a  curse  this  strike  has  brought  upon  us  all.  I  thank  you, 
Joshua,  with  all  my  heart.  Good-bye,  and  God  bless  you. 
I  shall  not  burden  you  again  with  my  woes,"  and,  with 
streaming  eyes,  she  dropped  in  anguish  upon  her  couch. 

Social  conditions  were  "free  and  easy"  among  all 
classes  here.  Men,  women,  and  children,  laymen,  and 
ministers  would  do  things  here  that  they  would  have 
blushed  to  have  thought  of  in  the  organized  societies, 
whence  they  came.  Everything  was  sacrificed  at  the 
shrine  of  lust  for  a  "quick  fortune."  Preachers  would 
talk  of  using  a  gun  or  of  thrashing  men,  and  use  profanity. 
I  remember  that  a  Presbyterian  minister  was  assisting  a 
bucket  brigade  at  a  little  fire.  Some  one  said,  "Look  out, 
Mr.  Daly,  I  am  going  to  throw  down  this  bucket."  The 

minister  replied,  "Throw  and  be ."  No  one  severely 

criticised  such  liberties  with  profanity;  they  rather 
regarded  it  as  evincing  a  commendably  liberal  spirit. 
Neighbors  were  mixed — good,  bad,  and  indifferent  in 
the  same  block — and  they  all  mingled  freely. 


392 


THE  PILGRIM 


A  friend  warned  a  leading  wealthy  woman  of 
the  u'nfitness  of  a  visiting  associate,  thinking  she  was 
unaware  of  her  reputation.  The  woman  replied,  "I  do 
not  care,  she  is  a  good-hearted  soul,  and  I  never  knew  a 
'mudhole  to  dim  the  sun/  but  have  often  known  the  sun- 
to  dry  up  the  mudhole.  I  am  not  here  for  my  health  or 
as  a  moral  missionary."  And  this  was  the  prevailing 
thought.  The  hotels  took  in  all  kinds  and  classes  and 
kept  their  eyes  shut  except  as  to  the  amount  of  the  charges. 
A  majority  of  the  business  men  joined  with  the  visitors 
in  organizing  and  marching  from  saloon  to  saloon  and 
from  variety  theatre  to  theatre  at  night,  singing,  howling, 
and  filling  up  on  the  vilest  of  whisky.  They  thought  this 
built  up  their  trade  and  caused  the  miners  to  give  them 
the  reputation  of  being  "good  fellows." 

After  they  had  grown  weary  of  this  "double  quick" 
march  towards  death,  and  of  the  fulsome  egotism  of  the 
old  San  Juan  friends  at  the  assumption  of  being  resi- 
dents of  a  bigger  mining-camp,  the  Pilgrim  and  the 
Pioneer  engaged  passage  for  a  return  to  the  even-going 
San  Juan  country,  thoroughly  impressed  with  the  hollow, 
baseless  mockery  of  the  assumptions  of  the  superiority  of 
those  living  in  larger  places,  and  of  the  increase  of  moral 
turpitude  and  license  for  evil  doing,  in  the  ratio  with  the 
population. 

Examine  your  legislators  and  you  will  find  the  lowest 
average  in  intelligence,  fidelity  to  duty,  and  morals  from 
the  largest  cities.  Examine  the  records  of  congress  and 
you  will  find  the  lowest  average  in  morals,  intelligence, 
and  fidelity  to  duty  in  the  state  of  New  York,  from  New 
York  City;  in  the  state  of  Massachusetts,  from  Boston; 
in  Illinois  from  Chicago ;  and  throughout  the  nation  from 
the  largest  cities.  The  great  masses  of  the  moral  and 


AND  THE  PIONEER  393 

intellectual  forces  of  all  countries  are  reared  and  main- 
tain their  situs  in  the  small  villages  and  country  settle- 
ments, and  the  cities  are  constantly  drawing  their  most 
sterling  citizens  from  these  supply  points. 

On  their  way  hack  to  the  San  Juan  the  coach  was 
loaded  to  the  limit  with  men,  with  the  exception  of  one 
Bohemian  woman  on  her  way  to  the  Gunnison  valley. 
Women  were  scarce  in  Colorado  and  men  were  as  gallant 
and  deferential  to  them  as  bridegrooms  to  their  spouses. 
At  that  time  almost  every  man  travelled  with  his  pockets 
loaded  with  cigars  and  whisky,  and  always  shared  with 
his  fellows  whether  intimate  friends  or  comparative 
strangers.  At  every  change  of  horses  the  men  would 
march  behind  the  stage  barn  and  drink,  but  never  exhib- 
ited a  bottle  in  the  presence  of  the  Bohemian  cook  lest  it 
might  shock  her  womanly  temperance  instincts. 

About  eleven  o'clock  their  Bohemian  sister  opened  a 
big,  yellow  valise,  drew  out  a  long  black  quart  bottle  of 
whisky  and  said :  "Men  won't  yez  have  a  dram  of  bourbon 
with  me?"  This  broke  the  ice  and  drinks,  of  as  many 
kinds  as  there  were  numbers  of  passengers,  were  free- 
ly indulged  in  during  the  remainder  of  the  journey,  and 
the  Bohemian  sister  never  missed  a  drink.  Mr.  Wickham 
exclaimed :  "What  a  pleasant  relief  to  pass  from  the  fever- 
ish excitement  of  a  mining  boom  where  the  fakirs,  bunco- 
steerers,  sports  and  wild  speculators  dominate  the  senti- 
ment of  the  people,  back  to  the  settled  mining-camp  where 
the  sterling,  solid  miners,  conservative  business  men,  and 
old  pioneers  are  dominant.  It  begets  a  sentiment  like  unto 
that  felt  in  going  from  Sodom  to  Bethlehem.  It  is  like 
passing  from  the  excitement  of  war  to  the  placid  paths  of 
profound  peace.  It  forces  the  conviction  on  the  inex- 


394  THE  PILGRIM 

perienced  ones  that  there  are  dearer  things  in  life  than 
money. 

"But,  ah !  I  can't  remain  among  these  peaceful  scenes. 
It  is  too  close  to  the  field  of  my  desolation.  That  social 
outcast,  Monk,  has  pushed  ajar  the  long  closed  gates  of 
my  social  folly  and  has  exposed  on  every  side  of  me  the 
parched  fields  and  blurred  pathways  of  my  conjugal  mon- 
strosities. My  brain  reels !  I  can  hear  the  squeaking  of 
the  caloused  fissures  and  feel  the  tearing  tissues  as  they 
spread  their  gaping  jaws  to  monopolize  again  the  field 
of  thought*  I  must  turn  my  back  upon  these  familiar 
scenes  and  place  many  broad  withered  prairies  and  many 
lofty  mountain  ranges  between  me  and  these  grotesque 
surroundings,  or  become  a  slave  to  my  mania.  I  must 
have  new  pastures,  new  excitement,  greater  diversion,  or 
my  thoughts  will  all  be  careened  into  these  well-worn 
depressions  of  the  brain  and  will  be  ground  into  the  com- 
mon grist  of  continuous  lamentations  for  the  inexorable 
results  of  the  contravention  of  an  immutable  and  merci- 
less law  of  nature. 

"For  days  the  profligate  mind  has  been  permitted 
riotously  to  intrude  these  weak  and  cowardly  thoughts 
into  its  organ,  the  brain,  without  noticing  the  deep  furrows 
that  were  despoiling  the  smooth  surface.  That  greatest 
enemy  of  the  race,  Procrastination,  has  been  harvesting 
bis  usual  crops  of  ruin  and  despair.  I  am  afraid !  I  am 
afraid  of  that  potent  warning  that  I  feel  creeping  upon 
me.  Too  late!  Too  late!" 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

CROSSING  THE  DESERTS. 

Mr.  Wickham  and  Mr.  Campbell  pushed  over  a  link 
in  the  chain  of  the  Kocky  Mountains  to  the  cantonment 
on  the  Uncompahgre  River  commanded  by  Gen.  Me. 
Here  they  found  the  government  saloon,  as  it 
were,  in  full  blast,  and  many  red  faces  and  blooming  noses 
told  the  sad  story  of  the  insinuating  inroads  of  king  al- 
cohol. They  had  not  been  long  at  the  cantonment  when 
an  acquaintance  of  Mr.  Wickham's  appeared  and  said, 
"Old  Tambien  is  in  the  guardhouse  and  desires  to  see 
you,  but  you  will  have  to  get  permission  from  Gen  Me." 

They  went  to  his  headquarters  and  the  Pioneer  told 
him  that  he  had  known  Mr.  Hiram  Frobisher,  alias  "Tam- 
bien," when  he  was  one  of  the  most  polished,  wealthy,  and 
influential  citizens  of  his  community,  but  that  he  had 
tarried  too  long  at  the  wine  vaults  and  had  become  prac- 
tically irresponsible ;  that  the  old  man  had  sent  a  messenger 
for  him  and  he  would  like  to  go  over  and  talk  with  him1 
privately,  and  see  if  there  were  any  aid  or  consolation  he 
could  extend  him.  Gen.  Me.  answered,  "Very  well, 
you  can  see  him,  and  further,  you  may  take  him  along 
with  you  if  you  can  get  him  away  from  the  cantonment." 

They  were  conducted  into  the  quarters  of  the  pris- 
oner. He  cried  out,  "Tambien,  Senors,"  his  usual  cor- 
ruption for  the  Spanish  of  "How  do  you  do,  sirs."  The 
adoption  of  the  Spanish  salutation  had  caused  the  old 
man's  associates  to  refer  to  him  generally  as  "Tambien." 

The  Pioneer  inquired,  "Is  not  this  rather  a  curious 
abode  for  a  gentleman  born  and  reared  in  Tammany 

(395) 


396 


THE  PILGRIM 


Hall  as  you  have  been,   and  a  blue-blooded  gentleman 

at  that?" 

A  deep  gloom  came  over  the  old  man's  face,  he 
puckered  his  lips  and  tried  to  explain,  and  finally  looked 
to  the  hills  and  suggested  that  "the  high  altitude  occa- 
sions all  of  these  strange  freaks,"  the  usual  excuse  for 
many  unexpected  turns  of  opinion  or  moral  conduct  of 
immigrants  to  the  Rocky  Mountains.  He  soon  worked 
himself  up  to  his  normal  courage,  and  moralized :  "Senor 
Wickham,  the  world  is  all  a  vain  show,  a  false  pretense; 
I  have  been  at  the  cantonment  two  weeks  and  have  not 
drawn  a  sober  breath  until  after  they  pla.ced  me  in  here. 
The  officers  were  drinking  as  much  as  I;  the  only  dif- 
ference is  that  I  have  to  pay  for  my  drinks,  but  I  have 
never  seen  one  of  them  pay  a  cent,  or  the  mark  of  a  pen 
made  against  one.  I  saw  that  many  of  the  officers  were 
absolutely  oblivious  to  the  value  of  property,  and  that 
criminal  waste  was  rampant  in  every  quarter.  Two  cars 
of  corn  and  a  saw  mill  were  to  be  sold.  'I  stood  in  with 
the  auctioneer  and  some  others,  and  in  a  gentlemanly  and 
high-toned  way  we  practically  stole  this  property  of  great 
value.  Tramping  over  these  beds  of  cobble  stones  my 
shoe-soles  gave  out  and  I  boldly  stepped  up  to  the  com- 
missary department,  picked  up  a  pair  of  dollar  shoes,  put 
them  on,  was  arrested  and  thrown  in  here.  What  an  in- 
vidious distinction  between  the  petty  thief  and  the  thief 
on  a  grand  scale.  I  stole  two  cars  of  corn  and  a  saw  mill 
and  was  regarded  as  a  high-toned  gentleman,  but  when  I 
condescended  to  steal  a  pair  of  dollar  shoes,  I  was  con- 
demned to  a  criminal  cell.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  the 
father  could  not  make  his  thoughtful  but  inexperienced 
boy  understand  how  John  Jones  could  kill  one  man  and 
become  marked  like  Cain  as  a  murderer,  abhorred  by  all 


AND  THE  PIONEER  397 

good  men,  while  Alexander  the  Great  could  kill  a  hun- 
dred thousand  and  become  the  sacred  idol  of  his  race? 
It  is  not  the  moral  turpitude  so  much  as  the  petty  or 
enormous  scale  on  which  the  act  is  done,  that  darkens  the 
deed  of  the  criminal  in  the  eyes  of  the  hero-worshipping 
populace." 

They  took  the  old  man  out  and  started  him  up  the 
"Dry  Cedar"  for  the  San  Juan. 

The  Uncompahgre  Valley  is  completely  surrounded 
by  majestic  mountain  ranges  and  the  blue  sky  seems  to 
rest  upon  their  summits  all  around,  giving  the  valley  all  of 
the  appearance  of  a  canopied  and  completed  world. 

The  only  uninviting  things  in  the  valley  were  the 
parched  vegetation  and  shrubbery  and  the  dry  and  thirsty 
soil. 

The  Pilgrim  and  the  Pioneer  pushed  on  down  the 
Uncompahgre  River  to  the  Gunnison,  then  down  this  at- 
tractive stream  under  the  headland  of  the  Grand  Mesa  to 
the  confluence  of  the  Grand  and  Gunnison  Rivers.  Here 
a  great  valley  opened,  fenced  in  with  a  most  charming 
range  of  mountains.  The  valley  was  sterile  and  uncul- 
tivated, but  with  a  rare  combination  of  fertile  soil,  salu- 
brious climate,  abundance  of  water,  and  great  coal  veins 
cropping  out  on  every  mountain-side  for  fuel,  making  such 
a  combination  of  natural  necessary  elements  as  will  in- 
sure a  great  center  of  population  and  of  wealth  when  the 
pace  of  development  reaches  this  favored  spot 

When  they  reached  the  Utah  line  the  old  Pioneer 
turned  and  gazed  intently  at  the  country  lying  on  their 
east  flank.  Mr.  Campbell  asked,  "What  is  the  attrac- 
tion?" 

The  Pioneer  replied,  "Have  you  observed  that  for 


398  THE  PILGRIM 

130  miles  on  our  right  there  has  been  an  almost  unbroken 
bed  of  coal?  If  God  keeps  his  promise  to  consume  this 
world  by  fire,  then  you  want  to  get  as  far  from  this  spot 
as  possible,  for  the  most  intense  flames  of  the  universe 
must  be  here,  as  this  is  the  center  of  the  carbon  supply." 

Leaving  this  valley  they  struck  a  desert  as  trackless, 
cheerless,  and  torrid  as  ever  was  crossed  by  an  Arab  in 
the  burning  sands  of  Sahara,  and  one  which  will  never  be 
taken  from  the  maps  as  "The  Great  American  Desert," 
until  Time,  or  God,  in  His  providence,  shall  have  worn 
down  some  of  the  lofty  mountain  ranges,  or  piled  up  new 
ones  in  such  a  manner  as  to  send  currents  of  air  here  which 
have  not  been  devaporized,  or  shall  put  forth  new  streams 
for  the  irrigation  of  this  virgin  soil.  The  time  will  cer- 
tainly come  when  the  mysterious  workings  of  the  econ- 
omies of  nature  will  so  change  the  air  currents  or  water- 
courses that  the  great  sterile  deserts  of  the  old  and  of  the 
new  world  will  be  the  great  food  granaries  and  centers  of 
population,  but  such  an  undertaking  is  not  within  the 
possible  reach  of  the  ingenuity  of  man. 

After  many  deprivations  and  hardships  the  weary 
travelers  reached  the  western  slope  of  the  high  inter- 
vening range  and  beheld  the  great  Salt  Lake  Valley  and 
Salt  Lake,  which  looked  like  an  oasis  with  a  brilliant 
solitaire  jewel  set  in  the  center.  They  soon  reached  the 
Mormon  settlements.  Though  the  inhabitants  were  poor 
and  scantily  equipped  with  the  conveniences  of  life,  the 
travelers  never  enjoyed  entertainment  by  a  more  frank, 
generous,  sympathetic,  or  hospitable  people.  Their  every 
act  evinced  that  they  were  not  only  teaching  by  precept, 
but  by  example,  the  blessed  doctrine  of  the  "Fatherhood 
of  God  and  the  Brotherhood  of  Man." 

The  night  they  entered  Salt  Lake,  George  Q.  Cannon 


! 


AND  THE  PIONEER  399 

lectured  on  the  pioneer  days  of  Salt  Lake  Valley.  His 
description  of  the  turmoils,  suffering,  and  disappoint- 
ments of  men,  women,  and  children  in  the  early  days  was 
heart-rending  and  his  depicting  of  the  abiding  faith  they 
incessantly  had  exercised  in  God  was  pathetic.  He  viv- 
idly described  the  cheerfulness  of  men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren and  how  they,  with  the  crude  implements  shaped 
by  their  own  handicraft,  diverted  the  streams  upon  the 
virgin  prairies  and  cultivated,  them,  and  how,  when  the 
inhabitants  were  all  aglow  with  the  cheerful  hope  of  a 
most  abundant  harvest,  clouds  of  grasshoppers  came  and 
consumed  all  their  crops;  how  they  met  in  fervent,  inces- 
sant prayer,  lived  upon  herbs,  and  tried  the  second  crop, 
and  how  the  same  pests  came  with  the  same  fatal  results. 
They  repeated  their  devotions  and  preparation  for  the 
third  crop  and  planted  it,  and  just  before  the  fruitage  the 
dark  clouds  of  grasshoppers  were  seen  approaching.  The 
people  were  called  together  in  continuous,  fervent  prayer, 
piteously  and  faithfully  depending  upon  God  to  rescue 
the  starving  inhabitants  from  this  third  visitation  of  the 
ravaging  pests;  just  as  the  grasshoppers  approached  they 
beheld  another  dark  cloud  of  sea  gulls  approaching,  and 
these  new  visitors  swooped  down  upon  the  grasshoppers, 
utterly  destroyed  them  and  saved  the  crop;  the  local 
legislature  soon  declared  the  sea  gull  a  sacred  bird  and 
placed  a  heavy  penalty  upon  any  one  who  should  in  any 
way  molest  it,  and  these  timely  immigrant  birds  had  re- 
mained as  guardians  over  the  crops  of  the  great  Salt 
Lake  Valley  up  to  that  time. 

The  visitors  never  before  witnessed  such  evidences  of 
a  burning  faith  as  were  depicted  in  the  glowing  counte- 
nance of  the  people  in  this  pioneer  audience,  as  the  speaker 


400  THE  PILGRIM 

contrasted  these  trials  with  the  locust  pests  of  Pharaoh 
while  he  was  oppressing  the  children  of  Israel. 

He  also  described  the  great  foresight  and  caution 
with  which  Brigham  Young  apportioned  the  land  among 
his  people.  If  one  desired  to  be  a  tradesman,  he  gave 
him  a  lot  in  Salt  Lake  near  the  size  of  an  ordinary  city 
block ;  if  one  desired  to  do  market  gardening  for  the  people 
of  Salt  Lake,  he  gave  him  a  five-acre  tract  near  the  city 
limits;  if  others  desired  to  do  general  farming  or  stock 
raising,  he  awarded  them  thirty  acres  each,  further  out 
in  the  country ;  this  division  at  the  time  was  very  equitable 
and  evinced  method. 

The  clerk  of  the  hotel  where  the  Pilgrim  and  the 
Pioneer  stopped  was  thoroughly  imbued  with  the  tenets  of 
the  church,  paid  her  tithes,  and  sustained  the  faith  to  all 
comers.  They  asked  her  which  wife  she  preferred  to 
be,  number  one  or  number  two.  She  replied,  "We  are  a 
tolerant  people ;  some  of  us  believe  in  a  plurality  of  wives 
and  some  believe  in  but  one  wife  to  each  man,  and,"  said 
she,  "the  records  of  our  church  show  that  only  two  per 
cent  of  the  husbands  have  a  plurality  of  wives." 

They  asked  her  why  the  98  per  cent  did  not  blot  out 
this  iniquity  of  the  2  per  cent  which  was  bringing  such 
odium  on  the  church  and  on  the  people.  She  grew  ani- 
mated and  really  eloquent.  She  pointed  to  street  after 
street  in  Chicago,  New  York,  and  St  Louis  that  were 
crowded  with  lewd  women  and  said,  "These  are  the  dupli- 
cate wives  of  the  Gentiles ;  we  have  none  such  among  the 
Mormons.  The  Mormon  loves,  protects,  and  defends  his 
second  or  third  wife  as  faithfully  as  he  does  his  first,  until 
death  separates  them,  but  the  Gentile  loathes  his  duplicate 
consort  after  the  fresh  blush  of  her  youthful  cheek  fades 


AND  THE  PIONEER  401 

into  the  wrinkles  of  old  age,  and  abandons  her  to  a  lot  of 
shame  and  misery  to  fill  a  dishonored  grave  in  the  potters' 
field :  her  offspring,  if  any,  are  outcasts,  covered  with  a 
load  of  shame  for  which  they  are  not  responsible  and  which 
they  can  never  outlive  or  shake  off.  Ah,"  said  she,  "the 
Gentile  is  a  real  publican,  hunting  motes  in  his  brethren's 
eyes  while  refusing  to  see  the  beam  that  is  in  his  own 
eye." 

In  the  midst  of  this  talk  an  old,  wrinkled-faced  man 
past  middle  life  came  up  with  newspapers  for  sale.  The 
Pioneer  bought  one  and  jocularly  asked,  "My  friend,  how 
are  your  wives  today  ?"  The  old  man  replied,  "My  wife 
is  very  well,  thank  you."  "Well,  haven't  you  married 
but  one  woman?"  said  the  Pioneer."  "Yes,"  said  the  old 
man,  "I  married  two,  but  one  was  dead  when  the  cere- 
mony was  performed."  "Why  did  you  do  such  an  absurd 
thing  as  to  marry  a  dead  woman?"  inquired  the  Pioneer. 
The  old  man  dropped  his  head,  and  answered,  "I  consoled 
others.  A  friend's  daughter  died  without  having  been 
married.  Her  father  and  mother  were  inconsolable.  They 
believed  she  would  have  a  lonely  and  unhappy  life  in 
Heaven  without  the  companionship  of  a  husband.  They 
appealed  to  my  wife  and  to  me,  that  I  take  her  as  my 
second  wife,  though  she  was  dead.  To  palliate  their  grief 
I  went  over,  had  the  ceremony  performed,  and  her  name 
recorded  in  the  church  records  as  my  second  wife,  and 
this  pacified  her  parents.  Such  things  are  non-essential  in 
our  church.  I  do  not  believe  in  this  or  in  plural  mar- 
riages, but  many  others  believe  in  both.  We  differ  in 
many  non-essentials." 

The  sight-seers  walked  up  to  the  east  door  of  that 
symmetrical  tabernacle,  with  its  wonderful  acoustic  prop- 

THK  PILGRIM.— 26 


402  THE  PILGRIM 

erties.  A  very  old  gentleman  sat  at  the  east  door.  They 
asked  him  some  questions  about  his  church  and  his  people. 
Like  an  automaton  he  launched  into  a  history  of  both 
church  and  people,  and  never  ceased  till  he  had  stated  the 
whole  creed  and  the  Biblical  authority  for  each  tenet,  the 
history  of  the  saints  and  prophets,  and  also  the  greatness 
of  Brigham  Young,  and  the  justice  and  equality  with  which 
he  governed  his  people.  His  memory  was  marvelous. 

The  Jordan  Eiver,  the  tabernacle,  the  beautiful  tem- 
ple, and  the  famous  Salt  Lake,  are  too  well  understood  by 
the  public  to  justify  a  description  here.  The  travelers 
went  to  church  on  Sunday  and  heard  the  practical  talks 
of  the  leaders  and  the  orders  given  for  the  temporal 
welfare  of  the  people.  What  a  lesson  in  discipline !  The 
whole  machinery  of  Brigham  Young's  government  ran  as 
smoothly  as  a  Swiss  watch.  Every  one  received  his  orders 
cheerfully  and  performed  the  commands  with  military 
precision.  They  were  rigidly  taught  the  salutary  prin- 
ciples of  trust,  honesty,  fidelity  to  duty,  and  the  general 
brotherhood  of  man  and  the  fatherhood  of  God.  The  Pil- 
grim and  the  Pioneer  talked  to  agents,  stockbuyers,  and 
drummers,  and  found  that  they  invariably  considered 
them  as  the  most  reliable  patrons  they  had,  saying  that 
they  regarded  the  fulfillment  of  a  promise  or 
an  agreement  as  a  most  sacred  duty  and  rarely 
faltered  or  quibbled.  Gentiles  generally  said  that  out- 
side of  their  polygamous  habits  they  were  most  exemplary 
people  and  they  liked  to  deal  with  them.  Why  not  ac- 
kowledge  the  many  commendable  traits  of  this  great  people 
and  condemn  the  one  evil  practiced?  Intolerant  moral 
teachers  condemn  the  good  and  the  evil  alike  without 
mentioning  the  many  exceptionally  laudable  tenets  that 
are  in  their  creed.  How  long  will  Christian  sects  discon- 


AND  THE  PIONEER  403 

tinue  the  intolerant  practice  of  withholding  credit  where 
credit  is  due,  out  of  pure  bigotry  or  a  blind  prejudice? 

Before  the  Pioneer  left  Salt  Lake  City,  he  wrote  long, 
affectionate  letters  to  each  of  his  daughters,  and  implored 
them  to  write  him  letters  descriptive  of  their  doings, 
etc.,  and  forward  the  same  to  Spokane  Falls,  Washington. 

After  viewing  the  fortresses,  beehives  and  many  other 
relics  of  the  early  practices  and  tribulations  of  these  people, 
the  travelers  moved  westward  along  the  margin  of  the 
great  Dead  Sea  (Salt  Lake),  through  a  remarkably  fertile 
country,  by  the  way  of  Ogden  into  Idaho. 

Here  they  met  the  rigors  and  trials  of  another  irre- 
deemable, sandy  desert  which  really  tries  men's  souls. 
These  deserts  are  caused  by  the  air  currents  crossing 
ranges  of  mountains  so  high  that  precipitation  of  the  mois- 
ture in  the  air  takes  place  on  the  elevated  ranges,  and  the 
air  is  devaporized  and  reaches  the  parks  and  valleys  be- 
yond, dry.  In  many  places  on  the  west  side  of  a  range  the 
rainfall  will  be  abundant  in  the  valleys,  while  those  on  the 
east  side  will  be  a  parched  desert.  Wherever  an  unusually 
high  range  is  found  that  the  air-currents  must,  cross  on 
one  side  or  the  other,  a  desert  will  be  encountered.  How- 
ever, Idaho  is  well  watered  by  the  Great  Snake  River,  and 
others,  has  millions  of  acres  of  level  and  fertile  lands, 
great  stock  ranges  on  the  public  domain,  and  a  splendid 
climate;  in  a  few  decades  it  is  destined  to  support  an 
immense  population  of  happy  and  prosperous  people. 
The  Pilgrim  and  the  Pioneer  patiently  worked  their  way 
across  Idaho  up  to  Butte  City,  Montana.  Here  they  found 
the  greatest  business  spot  in  all  of  their  travels.  Every- 
thing was  wide  open.  Dance  houses,  variety  theatres, 
gambling  dens,  prize  fights,  and  everything  that  would 
cause  the  expenditure  of  money.  Prices  were  enormous. 


404 


THE  PILGRIM 


It  had  never  been  their  privilege  before  to  observe  such 
a  large  proportion  of  ruddy  and  muscular  men.  It  looked 
like  the  breeding  ground  of  giants.  The  laboring  men 
and  women,  aided  by  the  sporting  and  saloon  elements 
that  were  catering  for  their  patronage,  absolutely 
dominated  the  sentiment  and  public  policy  of  the 
city;  and  the  laboring  men,  being  busy  and  loth  to 
meddle  in  public  affairs,  beyond  the  establishment  of  high 
wages  for  themselves,  permitted  the  insinuating  sports 
and  saloon  men  largely  to  control  the  city  administration 
and,  therefore,  public  opinion. 

However,  labor  was  unionized  by  common  consent 
if  not  under  actual  constitution  and  by-laws,  and  wages 
were  enormously  high;  visitors  were  not  humored  or 
catered  to,  but  had  to  pay  obeisance  to  those  who  served 
them.  The  house-girl  was  mistress  of  the  household ;  she 
told  her  mistress  when  she  should  have  an  outing,  and  the 
mistress  dared  raise  no  objection.  The  bonanza  kings  had 
to  walk  the  chalk  line  at  her  dictation.  One  of  the  wealth- 
iest men  in  Butte  told  them  that  one  morning  when  he  was 
at  his  breakfast, his  house-girl  peremptorily  ordered  him  to 
get  up  and  draw  her  a  check  for  her  wages,  saying  that 
she  wanted  to  use  some  money  right  then.  He  said  he 
dared  not  hesitate,  as  the  least  quibbling  on  his  part  would 
have  caused  her  to  pack  up  her  things,  move  away,  and 
leave  him  without  help.  What  a  lesson  this  teaches. 
Capital  is  wholly  dependent  upon  labor.  As  usual,  when 
they  reached  the  city  they  were  dusty  and  hungry,  and 
when  they  caught  sight  of  the  "Saddle  Rock"  restaurant 
they  entered  for  a  repast.  It  may  not  have  been  first  class 
or  the  best  in  Butte,  but  their  stay  was  interesting,  to  say 
the  least.  The  tired  travelers  were  seated  by  a  well- 
dressed,  flashy-looking  owner  of  a  gambling  hall,  to  whom 


AND  THE  PIONEER  405 

everyone  about  the  institution  paid  great  deference.  A 
girl  about  thirty,  raw-boned,  muscular,  with  a  coarse  voice 
and  abrupt,  independent  air,  was  mistress  of  the  dining 
room,  seated  the  guests,  took  the  orders,  collected  the  bills, 
and  practically  ordered  the  boarders  to  tip  her  liberally. 
She,  and  the  unique  guests  which  they  were  fortunate 
enough  to  meet  here,  used  a  slang  that  made  their  conver- 
sation almost  a  riddle  to  the  ordinary  visitor.  It  is  not  pre- 
tended that  these  guests,  this  waiter,  or  this  restaurant, 
were  fair  samples  of  those  common  to  Butte  City.  The 
owner  of  the  gambling  hall  blandly  referred  to  the  cook  as 
a  "pot- wrestler,"  to  the  waiter  as  a  "hash-slinger,"  and 
to  the  victuals  as  "chuck,"  etc. 

By  the  time  they  got  comfortably  seated  a  man  and  a 
woman,  dressed  mostly  in  leather,  with  high  gauntlet 
gloves,  red  leather  leggins,  and  immense  sombreros,  came 
sweeping  across  the  dining-room  to  their  table  and  gush- 
ingly grasped  the  hand  of  the  gambler,  familiarly  calling 
him  "Gray  Eagle,"  because  of  his  prematurely  iron-gray 
hair;  he  addressed  the  man  as  "Hackey"  and  the  woman 
as  "Bronchey,"  they  being  generally  known  in  the  com- 
munity as  "Hackberry  Charlie"  and  "Broncho  Kate." 

Gray  Eagle  was  consuming  an  immense  beefsteak, 
large  enough  for  four  men.  "Bronchey"  inquired :  "Gray 
Eagle,  what  does  that  slab  off  the  unfortunate  bovine  set 
you  back?"  He  replied,  "I  don't  know,  Bronchey,  the 
hash-slinger  hasn't  presented  me  with  a  bill  of  lading 
yet."  The  waiter  soon  came  in  and  cried  out  "Beefsteak, 
ham  and  eggs."  "Hackey"  and  "Bronchey"  consulted  a 
moment,  then  "Hackey"  answered :  "Bring  us  a  couple  of 
slabs  from  the  most  elevated  portion  of  the  rear  perambu- 
lating machinery  of  the  lamented  swine  and  a  healthy 
bunch  of  green  hen  fruit."  The  waiter  inquired:  "How 


406 


THE  PILGRIM 


will  you  have  your  eggs  cooked?"  "Hackey"  in  a  low, 
confidential  tone  said,  "Fry  mine  up  and  down  stairs," 
then  solicitously  looked  at  "Bronchey"  for  a  reply.  She 
piped  out,  "You  may  close  the  eyes  of  mine,  too."  One 
would  have  thought  these  three  persons  controlled  the  des- 
tiny of  Butte  to  hear  their  conversation.  "Gray  Eagle" 
mentioned  one  capitalist  after  another  and  declared  them 
real  enemies  of  the  town;  said  they  employed  men  of 
families  or  old  fogies  who  put  their  money  into  savings 
banks  and  sent  it  away  to  relatives,  and  that  the  saloons 
and  gambling  halls,  which  kept  up  Butte  and  distributed 
the  money  among  the  people,  got  but  little  benefit  from 
such  miners,  and  that  the  sports  would  leave  town  unless 
things  changed,  and  the  houses  in  Butte  would  be  filled 
with  bats  and  burros  if  this  wide-awake  business  class 
should  abandon  it. 

"Bronchey"  and  "Hackey"  fully  agreed  with  him. 
They  pushed  back  their  plates  and  "Hackey"  inquired, 
"Hash-slinger,  how  much  is  the  till  shy  on  this  re- 
plenishing of  our  empty  bread  baskets?"  The  girl 
answered:  "$3.50."  He  threw  down  a  five  dollar 
bill  and  said :  "Can  you  break  a  V  ?"  She  replied,  "You 
bet  your  sweet  life  we  can  break  anything  from  a  broncho 
buster  to  a  bonanza  king  if  we  can  get  a  cinch  on  them." 
She  threw  him  down  a  dollar  and  a  half  in  silver,  say- 
ing, "There  is  your  dough."  He  threw  the  girl  back  a  half 
dollar,  retorting,  "Plant  that  in  the  heel  of  your  stock- 
ing with  my  love.  I  like  to  encourage  a  real  artist  in  hash- 
slinging."  The  girl  grabbed  the  half  dollar  and  replied, 
"Bully  boy  with  a  glass  eye,  thanks  awfully;  if  I 
am  around  I  shall  dance  at  your  funeral  for  the  nice  comp' 
and  the  half  dollar  to  sew  in  my  stocking  heel."  With 
great  cordiality  "Hackey"  took  the  gambler  by  the  hand 


AND  THE  PIONEER  407 

and  bade  him  good-bye,  saying  that  he  had  greatly  enjoyed 
this  "jaw  service"  and  regretted  that  Butte  was  not  filled 
with  such  wide-awake  and  enterprising  business  men  as 
he.  The  gambler  thanked  him,  looked  patronizingly  at 
"Bronchey"  and  said  that  when  he  saw  the  graceful  shape 
of  "Bronchey"  glued  to  the  apex  of  her  pretty  caballo 
this  A.  M.  he  envied  his  station  as  her  "pal."  "Bronchey" 
shot  her  long  red  hand  into  the  gambler's  and  said :  "Shake 
a  bunch  of  fives  on  that  handsome  lip  service,  pardner ;  I 
am  your  huckleberry  hereafter."  Then  "Hackey"  and 
"Bronchey"  stalked  out  to  their  horses. 

The  waiter  suggested:  "I  like  them  kind  of  people 
who  always  speaks  pure  English  so  one  can  understand 
them,  and  then  they  pays  for  what  they  get.  I'll  bet  they 
plank  down  to  me  $3  a  week  for  good  attentions.  I  de- 
spise these  Boston  and  "N&w  York  people  who  come  here 
and  try  to  use  those  high-falutin  words  that  they  don't 
know  the  meaning  of  themselves ;  and  then  they  squeeze  a 
dollar  until  the  eagle  on  it  gasps  for  breath  before  they 
will  let  it  go.  Shucks,  if  one  of  them  eats  here  a  week  I 
wouldn't  get  a  dollar  out  of  him.  He  might  leave  ten  cents 
by  his  plate  if  I  was  right  sweet  on  him,  but  what  could 
one  expect  of  these  tender-feet  who  always  lived  among  the 
old  fogies  in  Boston  or  !N"ew  York  where  they  never  see 
nothing  and  where  they  never  get  a  glimpse  of  a  dollar  un- 
less some  of  our  western  boys  go  back  there  and  blow  in 
their  stuff.  I  wish  they  would  quit  spending  their 
money  in  "New  York  and  Boston  and  let  the  natives  starve 
awhile.  I'll  bet  that  would  bring  them  to  their  milk.  I 
am  always  sorry  for  people  who  have  to  live  in  such  ignor- 
ance and  poverty  as  they  have  to  in  New  York  and 
Boston." 

The  gambler  said  they  knew  no  better  and,  "in  the 


408 


THE  PILGRIM 


language  of  Milton  or  Byron  or  the  Bible  or  somebody, 
'Ignorance  is  bliss/ or  something  like  that/' arose,  threw  her 
a  half  dollar,  and  departed,  and  the  weary  travelers  were 
afraid  not  to  put  up  a  half  dollar  each  lest  she  might  think 
they  were  from  the  poor  villages  of  New  York  or  Boston. 

The  Pioneer  said,  "There  are  extremes  in  society; 
that  part  that  always  lives  on  a  frontier  or  at  a  cross  road 
town  without  an  opportunity  of  seeing  the  more  advanced 
centers  of  civilization  believes  that  all  on  earth  that  is 
precious  or  desirable  centers  in  the  villages  or  on  the  fron- 
tier, and  they  are  really  sorry  for  those  who  have  to  live 
in  the  more  advanced  settlements.  The  other  extreme 
moves  from  place  to  place  until  it  believes  there  is  no  place 
on  earth  fit  to  live  in.  The  breezy  waiter  belongs  to  the 
former  class.  As  between  the  two  extremes  the  former  is 
much  more  desirable  as  there  is  love  of  home  and  content- 
ment associated  with  this  lot,  while  the  nightmare  of 
restlessness  and  dissatisfaction  are  ever  at  the  heels  of  the 
latter." 

When  the  Pioneer  and  Mr.  Campbell  came  out  into 
the  office,  the  owner  of  the  gambling  hall  was  sitting  at 
a  round  card-table  playing  solitaire.  The  Pioneer  said, 
"Wait  for  me  here,  Mr.  Campbell,  until  I  get  shaved." 
Mr.  Campbell  walked  over  and  watched  the  game  of  soli- 
taire, and  the  owner  of  the  gambling  hall  asked  him  if 
he  ever  speculated  any  with  cards.  Mr.  Campbell  re- 
plied that  he  could  play  a  little,  but  did  not  believe  in 
gambling.  "Very  well,"  said  the  owner  of  the  gambling 
hall,  "we  will  amuse  ourseives  with  a  little  friendly  game 
of  shoot-mouth,"  and  he  dealt  the  cards.  He  always 
allowed  Mr.  Campbell  to  win  and  constantly  eulogized  his 
luck  and  his  brilliant  plays. 

The  Pioneer  soon  returned  and  looked  on  the  game 


AND  THE  PIONEER        ,  409 

for  a  few  moments.  Every  time  the  owner  of  the  gambling 
hall  got  the  deal  he  gave  Mr.  Campbell  a  phenomenal  hand 
and  had  bully-ragged  him  to  bet  until  he  was  about  to 
yield. 

The  Pioneer  said,  "Give  me  your  hand,  Mr.  Camp- 
bell, you  see  if  the  horses  are  all  right." 

The  stranger,  when  it  came  his  turn  to  deal,  gave  the 
Pioneer  three  queens;  the  Pioneer  said  nothing  about 
betting,  but  made  a  show  down  and  won  the  pot.  The  next 
time  his  new  friend  got  a  deal,  he  gave  the  Pioneer  three 
jacks  and  a  pair  of  queens.  The  Pioneer  said,  "Ah!  I 
have  a  winning  hand  this  time."  The  gambler  threw 
down  twenty  dollars  and  said,  "I'll  bet  you  twenty.  You 
dare  not  bet;  you  haven't  got  the  nerve.  I  dare  you." 

The  Pioneer  coolly  laid  twenty  dollars  on  the  table, 
drew  a  vicious  looking  bull-dog  revolver  fiom  his  hip 
pocket,  stuck  it  in  the  gambler's  face  and  said,  "Lay  down 
that  hand.  Lay  it  down,  or  I  shall  drop  you  right  in  your 
tracks." 

The  gambler  spread  out  three  kings  and  a  pair  of 
queens  and  said,  "Don't  get  excited,  my  friend,  put  up 
that  gun,  it  might  go  off  accidentally.  Those  things  are 
always  unpleasant,  if  not  dangerous." 

The  Pioneer  spread  upon  the  table  four  aces,  picked 
up  the  forty  dollars  and  put  them  in  his  pocket. 

The  gambler  flushed  up  and  said,  "It  looks  to  me  like 
there  was  some  swindle  about  this." 

"Yes,"  replied  the  Pioneer,  "it  is  all  a  swindle  on  both 
sides.  You  started  in  to  rob  that  boy,  and  I  returned 
just  in  time  to  save  him.  Then  you  tried  to  'cold-deck' 
me  by  stealing  out  three  jacks  and  a  pair  of  queens  for 
me,  and  three  kings  and  a  pair  of  queens  for  yourself,  but 
while  you  were  getting  together  these  two  hands,  I  took 


410  THE  PILGRIM 

out  the  four  aces  and  put  them  under  my  leg,  and  returned 
your  three  jacks  and  pair  of  queens  to  the  deck.  Now, 
what  are  you  going  to  do  about  it?  Squeal,  I  presume." 

"Ah !"  answered  the  gambler,  "you  are  all  right — a 
dead  game  sport.  The  money  is  yours,  but  I  am  surprised, 
I  never  suspected  you  at  all.  I  was  trying  to  keep  you 
from  watching  me,  but  I  never  thought  of  watching  you. 
Say,  partner,  I  should  like  to  go  in  'cahoots7  with  you. 
I  know  where  we  can  make  a  barrel  of  money.  Will  you 
join  me  ?" 

The  Pioneer  straightened  up  to  a  superb  dignity 
and  replied,  "No,  I  am  no  sport.  I  never  gambled  in  my 
life,  sir,  and  shall  hardly  begin  now  in  my  rapidly  declin- 
ing years." 

"Oh,  yes,  yes,  I  understand  that,"  answered  the  sport, 
"that  is  all  right." 

The  Pioneer  returned  to  the  dining-room  and  gave 
the  two  helpers  each  five  dollars,  then  went  to  the  kitchen 
and  gave  the  two  helpers  there  five  dollars  each. 

When  he  returned  he  said,  "Sir,  I  have  given  the 
money  I  wrenched  from  you  to  the  helpers  in  the  dining- 
room  and  in  the  kitchen.  I  should  not  taint  my  business 
transactions  with  such  ill-gotten  gains." 

"Oh,  that's  all  right,"  answered  the  gambler,  "don't 
be  offended;  I  admire  you.  Such  generosity  is  always 
found  in  dead  game  sports.  When  can  I  have  a  long  busi- 
ness talk  with  you?" 

"Never,"  said  the  Pioneer,  as  he  stepped  out  on  the 
pavement. 

The  owner  of  the  gambling  hall  stepped  up  to  the 
clerk  and  inquired,  "Did  you  ever  see  that  fellow  before 
that  just  went  out  of  here  ?" 

"Yes,"  replied  the  clerk.     "I  just  saw  him  distrib- 


AND  THE  PIONEER  411 

ute  twenty  dollars  among  the  help.  I  think  he  is  some 
crazy  fellow." 

"No,"  answered  the  gambler,  "he  is  the  slickest  and 
gamiest  sport  that  I  ever  tackled  and  I  am  going  in 
'cahoots'  with  him  if  I  have  to  follow  him  for  a  year.  I'll 
bet  he's  got  a  barrel  of  money.  When  he  cools  off,  he  will 
be  back,  then  you  send  for  me." 

Mr.  Campbell  saw  all  this  and  fully  realized 
that  he  was  the  sole  cause  of  this  dangerous  escapade. 
Between  the  fear  and  humiliation  he  almost  had  nervous 
prostration.  This  was  the  first  time  he  had  ever  seen  the 
Pioneer  aroused  and  it  filled  him  with  all  kinds  of  morose 
forebodings.  It  made  him  long  for  old  Tennessee  again. 

It  occurred  to  Mr.  Campbell  that  the  Pioneer  had 
been  very  morose  ever  since  they  passed  a  band  of  Indians 
the  evening  before;  that  when  he  saw  the  savages  he  in- 
stantly turned  his  back  upon  them ;  that  his  checks  puffed 
up  with  accumulated  blood  and  he  walked  briskly  in  the 
opposite  direction;  that  he  had  had  little  to  say  since, 
and  that  probably  these  most  forcible  reminders  of  his 
ruin  had  unbalanced  his  mind. 

In  the  morning  the  Pilgrim  and  the  Pioneer  took 
a  stroll  over  this  famous  mining-camp.  There  was  noth- 
ing which  would  lead  the  untutored  in  the  mineral  king- 
dom to  expect  great  mineral  values  here.  The  so-called 
mountain  upon  which  the  mining  and  prospecting  were 
being  done,  was  a  low,  barren  ridge  hugging  the  little  set- 
tlement below.  There  was  not  a  tree,  a  bunch  of  grass,  or 
a  flower  visible  in  the  town.  They  asked  the  editor  of  the 
newspaper  why  no  one  had  a  grass  plot,  a  tree,  or  a  bunch 
of  hardy  flowers.  "My  dear  sirs,"  said  he,  "the  fumes 
from  the  minerals  here  are  destructive  to  vegetable  growth. 
A  bunch  of  grass  or  a  potted  plant  left  out  here  over  night 


412 


THE  PILGRIM 


will  be  dead  in  the  morning."  They  asked  how  he  account- 
ed for  the  giant-like  men  they  met  on  every  street  corner. 
"That  is  the  consequence  of  a  wise  business  prin- 
ciple that  is  recognized  in  but  few  places,  though  its 
soundness  is  as  well  established  among  the  thinking  em- 
ployers of  labor  as  the  law  of  gravitation  is  among  scien- 
tists, and  that  is,  the  cheapest  per  diem  is  usually  the 
dearest  labor.  Butte  City  has  the  reputation  of  maintain- 
ing the  highest  mining  wage^scale  of  any  place,  hence  the 
very  best  miners  of  British  Columbia  and  the  United 
States  gravitate  to  this  point.  Hon.  James  G.  Blaine, 
when  Secretary  of  State,  showed  in  one  of  his  reports 
that  while  the  American  artisan  obtained  a  much  higher 
per  diem  than  his  European  brethren,  at  the  same  time 
he  accomplished  so  much  more  than  they  that 
the  American  manufacturer  completed  a  yard  of 
cloth  at  a  less  cost  than  did  his  European  com- 
petitor. The  philosophy  of  this  seeming  contradiction 
rests  on  indisputable  premises.  For  over  a  hundred  years 
the  American  wage-scale  has  been  much  higher  than  that 
of  Europe,  This  occasioned  a  constant  inflow  of  the  most 
aggressive,  strong,  and  efficient  workmen  of  the  Old  World 
to  the  American  employers,  giving  them  the  great  advan- 
tage bound  up  in  the  principle  that  he  who  continually 
employs  at  the  highest  per  diem  gets  such  an  advantage 
in  superior  efficiency  that  he  in  reality  uses  the  cheapest 
labor.  I  knew  one  great  mine,  the  manager  of  which  fully 
recognized  the  principle  and  persisted  in  paying  from  25 
to  50  cents  above  the  current  wages,  and  thereby  obtained 
the  choice  of  all  accessible  miners,  and  made  money. 
The  mine  owners  protested  and  sent  a  committee  to 
him  to  persuade  him  to  abide  by  the  usual  scale.  The 
astute  manager  replied,  'My  mine  is  at  timber  line,  the 


AND  THE  PIONEER  413 

highest  in  the  district.  If  I  pay  the  usual  scale  of  wages 
I  will  get  only  such  miners  as  cannot  get  employment  at 
the  lower  and  more  congenial  altitudes,  and  will  there- 
fore have  the  refuse  of  the  camp,  and  lose  money.  By 
paying  one-half  dollar  per  day  more  than  the  usual  scale  I 
obtain  the  pick  of  the  miners  of  the  country,  and  I  find 
that  this  apparently  dearer  labor  is,  in  fact,  much  cheaper 
than  that  obtained  at  the  usual  scale.7 ' 

After  a  very  instructive  sojourn  in  Butte  they  moved 
down  the  Missoula  River  between  stately  mountain  sides, 
covered  with  great  pine  forests,  to  the  little  city  of  Mis- 
soula, with  bleak,  parched,  shadeless  background  of  the 
ever  present  sage  brush. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

A  PIONEER  WEDDING. 

Early  in  the  morning,  the  Pilgrim  and  the  Pioneer 
were  attracted  to  five  or  six  unkept-looking  men,  dressed 
in  greasy  buckskins,  with  uncombed,  long  ringlet  hair  and 
waving,  bushy  whiskers,  escorting  one  cadaverous-looking, 
malarialized,  though  neatly  dressed  and  refined,  middle- 
aged  woman,  from  the  station  to  the  Missoula  Hotel. 

She  had  evidently  just  left  the  malaria  beds  of  the 
East,  as  no  such  complexion  or  neat  dressing  was  indigen- 
ous to  this  region.  One  man  and  the  woman  hurried  away 
to  the  parlor.  It  was  soon  narrated  to  the  Pilgrim  and  the 
Pioneer  that  John  and  this  woman  knew  each  other  in 
childhood,  and  that  he  had  not  seen  her  since  her  short- 
dress  and  barefoot  school  days ;  but  of  late  they  had  been 
using  the  pen,  and  she  had  just  arrived  from  Illinois 
to  become  John*s  "  worn  an." 

John  soon  emerged  with  a  forlorn  and  dis- 
appointed look  upon  his  face,  showing  that  things 
were  not  just  as  he  had  expected.  A  small,  wiry  little 
Justice  of  the  Peace,  apparently  with  his  father's 
wedding  suit  on,  at  least  fifty  years  out  of  date,  hur- 
ried up  to  him  and  asked  if  he  was  ready  to  have  the 
ceremony  performed.  The  prospective  groom  shook  his 
head  and  said,  "In  a  little  while,"  and  walked  across  to 
a  clothing  store.  In  half  an  hour  he  returned,  clad  in  a 
suit  of  shoddy  clothes  and  a  white  shirt  without  a  collar, 
and  seemed  as  awkward  and  restless  in  his  woollen 

clothes  as  a  young  colt  at  his  first  appearance  in  harness. 
(415) 


416 


THE   PILGRIM 


His  comrades  gathered  about  him  and  asked,  "Wouldn't 
your  woman  marry  you  in  your  buckskin  suit  and  blue 
shirt?"  Another  said,  "She  must  be  mighty  high-toned." 
Another  warned  him :  "John,  it  won't  do  for  you  to  wear 
them  store  clothes  and  that  'biled'  shirt  over  to  the  Coeur 
d'  Alenes.  W'y  the  boys  would  have  no  respect  for  you 
in  those  high-toned  fixins'."  John  shook  his  head. 
"She  never  seen  anything  like  this  and  ft  makes 
her  home-sick,  but  I  told  her  that  after  she  had  lived  here 
six  months  she  wouldn't  like  anything  but  the  buckskin 
suit  and  blue  shirts,  and  you  couldn't  hire  her  to  live 
anywhere  else;  but  she  says  these  suits  scare  her  now. 
Things  don't  seem  to  be  as  she  expected,  and  I'm  afraid 
she  regrets  her  bargain." 

The  frisky  Justice  of  the  Peace  asked  him  if  he  was 
ready  to  be  married.  John  answered,  "In  a  few  minutes." 
He  soon  came  out  again,  more  embarrassed  than  before. 
One  after  another  asked  him  if  he  was  ready.  He  shook 
his  head  and  re-entered  the  clothing  store,  and  soon  re- 
turned with  a  high  standing  collar,  which  went  above 
his  short  neck  and  pushed  his  large  ears  up  into  folds ;  but 
he  was  still  minus  a  necktie. 

His  comrades  were  astounded.  They  said  that  they 
never  thought  that  "any  woman  could  ever  get  John 
Farley  into  such  dude  fixin's  as  them."  They  all  thought 
that  he  had  made  a  mistake  in  selecting  his  "woman." 
They  said  that  he  was  a  good  provider;  he  had  built  a 
good  peeled-log  cabin  for  her  and  had  gone  to  great  ex- 
pense in  putting  in  a  board  floor  and  a  glass  window,  and 
in  putting  the  boards  under  the  dirt  roof  so  close  together 
that  not  a  crumb  of  dirt  would  sift  through ;  and  they  were 
willing  to  bet  that  from  her  high-toned  Eastern  ideas  she 
wouldn't  be  satisfied. 


AND  THE  PIONEER  .  417 

In  a  few  minutes  John  appeared  and  leaned  against 
the  door  to  keep  from  falling  in  his  embarrassment.  His 
"woman"  had  tied  one  of  her  white  silk  handkerchiefs 
around  his  neck  as  a  tie  and  he  sought  to  keep  this  hidden 
from  his  comrades.  He  mumbled  out,  "Come  in  now." 
As  soon  as  the  spry  little  Justice  of  the  Peace  entered  the 
door,  he  began  the  ceremony,  and  he  really  did  his  part 
skillfully.  At  the  conclusion  he  kissed  the  bride.  The 
old  hunters  then,  one  by  one,  walked  up  and  spread  their 
flowing  beards  over  the  bride's  pale  face  and  made  their 
muscular  lips  fairly  pop  in  their  vigorous  contact  with 
those  of  John's  "woman."  Her  heart  seemed  to  stop  and 
her  muscles  trembled  like  aspen  leaves  in  a  mountain 
zephyr.  She  would  have  given  all  she  possessed  to  re- 
trace her  steps,  but  it  was  Joo  late. 

In  half  an  hour  John  .returned  to  the  street 
in  his  buckskins  and  blue  shirt,  and  was  a  model  of 
grace  and  comfort.  He  walked  briskly  to  a 
livery  stable  and  soon  returned  with  a  huge  unpainted 
lumber  wagon  with  three  sets  of  side  boards,  the 
bottom  loaded  with  hard  wood  and  iron  bands ;  above  this 
was  piled  in  a  load  of  light  furniture.  He  had  six  lop- 
eared,  wild-eyed  bronchos  hitched  to  the  wagon,  prancing 
and  standing  on  theii;  hind  feet.  The  high  spring  seat 
was  tilted  on  the  third  set  of  side-boards,  which  put  it 
ten  or  twelve  feet  in  mid  air.  One  comrade  brought  the 
bride,  another  a  step-ladder  for  her  to  ascend  to  this 
elevated  seat.  At  the  foot  of  the  ladder  John's  "woman" 
burst  into  tears,  and  exclaimed,  "I  can  never  get  up  there, 
and  if  I  could  I  never  could  stay  there.  I  know  I'll  be 
killed !"  The  men  crowded  around  her  and  tried  to  con- 
sole her,  told  her  how  safe  it  was,  and  what  an  opportunity 
she  would  have  to  see  the  beautiful  country.  They  said 


r 


AN  EXCITING  HONEYMOON. 


AND  THE  PIONEER  419 

that  in  six  months  she  would  not  change  this  life  for  any 
other.  One  Pioneer  pointed  out  to  her  how  fortunate 
John  was  to  have  a  good  mattress  along;  that  it  would 
be  so  much  better  than  rolling  up  in  a  blanket  when  they 
camped  on  top  of  the  range  that  night.  Her  heart  sank 
within  her  when  she  found  that  she  was  to  camp  out  that 
night  among  the  crags.  Her  muscles  relaxed  and  like  a 
conquered  deer  she  gave  up  and  by  her  actions  at  least, 
said,  "Do  what  you  will  with  me.  You  can  do  no  more 
than  kill  me."  The  men  took  hold  of  her  and  literally 
pushed  hoi-  UT>  the  ladder  and  into  the  high  spring  seat. 
She  eagerly  grasped  one  end  of  the  seat  with  her  left  hand 
and  fastened  the  fingers  of  the  other  hand  in  the  collar  of 
John's  buckskin  coat.  One  of  the  men  got  a  firm  hold  on 
her  jacket,  Johii  popped  his  whip,  the  six  wild  bron- 
chos bolted  into  a  dead  run,  and  the  last  the  Pilgrim  and 
Pioneer  saw  of  the  bride,  she  was  swaying  to  the  right 
and  to  the  left  as  though  on  a  teeter  board,  as  the  surface 
of  the  ground  changed.  But  few  brides  in  the  world  can 
have  so  wild  and  romantic  a  honeymoon  as  John's  "wom- 
an" experienced  on  that  reckless  run  from  Missoula  to 
the  Coeur  d'Alenes. 

The  parting  salutation  of  the  Pioneer  was,  "What  a 
superb  mother  that  refined  and  cultivated  woman  will 
make,  for  that  wild  animal's  children.  It  is  to  be  hoped 
that  they  will,  as  usual,  be  modeled  after  the  mother,  es- 
pecially so  in  this  case." 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

THROUGH  THE  COEUR  D'ALENES. 

After  seeing  the  bride  swing  off  on  her  depressing 
honeymoon,  the  Pilgrim  and  the  Pioneer  picked  up  and 
took  a  short  mountain  trail  for  the  same  wild  jungle.  They 
encountered  many  little  tributaries  headed  in  smooth 
basins  up  among  the  rugged  hills,  occupied,  generally,  by 
a  lone  man,  though  now  and  then  they  found  a  family 
there.  Travelers  could  always  depend  on  these  settlers 
to  give  them  a  dismal  picture  of  the  country  that  they 
might  move  on  and  leave  this  lone  occupant  monarch  of 
his  basin. 

On  a  sloping  hill,  by  a  gushing  spring,  in  a  clump  of 
quaking  asp  trees,  they  picketed  the  horses  out  to  grass, 
and  went  down  to  a  long  pole  cabin,  with  elk  and  deer 
heads  all  over  it,  a  long  rough  board  nailed  aver  the  door, 
and  a  sign  written  with  charcoal,  "WOOLY  APHIS 
INN."  The  snow  was  deep,  and  as  the  shades  of  evening 
crept  over  Woolly  Aphis  Mining  Camp  it  became  bitterly 
cold.  Old  Woolly  Aphis  had  a  big  Dutch  fire-place  across 
one  end  of  the  cabin,  and  one  corner  of  the  room  was 
filled  with  large  pine  logs.  All  hands  put  their  blankets 
as  near  as  possible  to  the  fire-place  and  retired  early,  all 
except  the  grotesque  host,  doubling  up  to  try  to  keep 
both  sides  warm.  About  one  o'clock  in  the  morning,  some 
one  knocked  on  the  door,  and  a  quivering  female  voice 
piped  out,  "Can  I  come  in  ?  I  am  almost  frozen." 

John's  "woman"  had  become  so  hysterical  on  that 

high  seat  and  over  the  thought  that  she  had  to  sleep  out 

(421) 


422 


THE  PILGRIM 


among  the  crags  that  night,  that  he  had  put  her  in  the  mail 
wagon  that  plied  from  Missoula  to  Wallace,  running  day 
and  night,  and  told  her  to  stop  off  at  Wolly  Aphis  Inn, 
"a  first  class  stopping  place,"  he  said,  and  he  would  pick 
her  up  the  next  day. 

Old  Woolly  Aphis  rolled  out  of  his  blankets  and  ex- 
claimed, "I,  hoky,  boys,  thars  the  first  woman  that  ever 
put  her  foot  in  Woolly  Aphis !  and  how  can  we  take  care 
of  her?  We  ain't  fixed  for  ladies?" 

He  hurriedly  opened  the  door  and  the  woman,  with 
chattering  teeth  and  a  benumbed  body,  almost  fell  into 
the  room.  As  she  began  to  warm  up  a  little  she  came  near 
falling  into  the  yawning  Dutch  fire-place.  Mr.  Wickham 
arose  and  said,  "Gentlemen,  this  woman  must  have  a 
place  to  sleep.  We  must  divide  our  blankets  with  her, 
or  some  of  us  must  sit  up." 

Old  Woolly  Aphis  retorted,  "Pardner,  you  content 
your  soul  in  peace  and  patience.  I  guess  old  Woolly 
Aphis  can  run  his  own  house  and  look  after  his  own 
guests,  if  one  on  'em  do  be  a  woman."  He  turned  down 
his  blankets  and  got  one  of  the  long  logs  of  wood  from 
the  corner  and  placed  it  in  the  middle  of  his  blanket-bed, 
and  said,  "My  dear,  m'am,  I  ain't  fixed  very  well  for 
ladies,  but  I'll  provide  for  you  the  best  I  ken.  Now,  you 
see  this  back  log  in  the  center  of  my  blankets  is  the  dead 
line  between  us.  You  get  on  the  side  of  the  log  next  to 
the  fire  and  go  to  sleep,  and  I'll  guarantee  you  will  be 
jest  as  safe  in  my  blankets  as  in  your  mother's  arms. 
Narry  a  finger  nor  a  toe  of  old  Woolly  Aphis  will  ever 
cross  to  your  side  of  that  back  log.  While  you  are  a 
guest  here,  I'll  be  your  protector."  The  woman,  benumbed 
and  stupid,  dropped  between  the  blankets  with  her  clothes 
on,  instantly  fell  asleep  and  knew  nothing  until  she  was 


AND  THE  PIONEER  423 

;i wakened  for  breakfast  the  next  morning.  She  arose  re- 
freshed, and  for  the  first  time  intelligently  comprehended 
her  precarious  surroundings,  and  became  fright- 
ened. She  said  to  Mr.  Wickham,  "If  I  had  been  my- 
self, I  never,  never,  could  have  thought  of  sleeping  as  I 
did  last  night.  What  would  my  neighbors,  my  people, 
think  of  me  if  they  should  hear  this  ?" 

"Ah,  my  good  woman,"  replied  the  Pioneer,  "because 
they  would  never  understand  the  situation,  they  should 
never  know  of  it.  When  I  saw  the  landlord's  unique  ar- 
rangement last  night  I  was  perfectly  satisfied,  because  I 
knew  from  my  past  experience  that  you  would  be  secure 
on  your  side  of  the  dead  line,  as  you  would  have  been 
in  a  locked  room  by  yourself  with  a  trusty  guard  standing 
at  your  door.  The  old  host  would  have  forfeited  his  life 
in  your  protection." 

"I  am  so  glad  there  is  some  redeeming  feat- 
ure among  the  men,  as  my  one  day  here  had 
convinced  me  that  they  had  all  degenerated  to  brutish 
beasts.  The  good  example  you  extol  is  so  blended  with 
heathenism,  that  I  dare  not  tell  that,  even  to  my  wild 
husband.  I  would,  however,  like  to  relate  the  story  of 
this  night's  lodging,  the  only  redeeming  feature  I  have 
seen  about  this  life,  but  my  lips  are  hermetically  sealed 
on  this  commendable,  though  grotesque  treatment.  O,  if 
I  could  only  tell  this  to  my  friends  in  the  East,  and 
make  them  believe  it,  how  it  would  change  their  minds 
relative  to  the  characters  of  these  pioneers,  but  I  can't, 
I  can't,  without  compromising  myself,  so  I  must  keep  this 
night's  lodging  a  sacred  secret." 

The  first  thing  that  met  the  eyes  of  the  Pilgrim  and 
the  Pioneer  when  they  awoke  in  the  morning  was  the 
pack  horse,  with  his  feet  sticking  up,  stiff  in  death.  He 


STIFF  IN  DEATH. 


AND   THE  PIONEER  425 

had  lain  down  at  the  end  of  his  rope,  on  the  hillside, 
and  every  time  he  struggled  to  get  up  he  slid  further 
down  the  hill  and  the  rope  drew  tighter  and  tighter  around 
his  neck  until  the  poor  animal  choked  to  death. 

Mr.  Wickham  handed  Mr.  Campbell  fifty  dollars  and 
said,  "I  see  a  smoke  curling  up  in  the  deep  canon  below, 
gallop  over  there  and  see  if  you  can  buy  a  horse,  and  be 
very  careful  to  get  a  guarantee,  or  you  may  get  something 
that  we  cannot  handle." 

Mr.  Campbell  had  been  gone  just  a  little  while  when 
he  trotted  up  to  the  camp,  leading  a  typical,  knotty-headed 
and  lop-eared  broncho.  He  handed  Mr.  Wickham  twenty- 
five  dollars  and  a  bill  of  sale  for  the  animal,  which  read 
as  follows :  "I  certify  that  I  own  this  broncho,  and  there 
is  no  claim  against  him ;  that  he  is  as  sound  as  a  dollar, 
as  tough  as  whit-leather,  and  as  to  his  gentleness  he  speaks 
for  himself.  A  man,  woman,  or  child  can  saddle  or  cinch 
the  pack  on  him  with  perfect  safety." 

Mr.  Campbell  fully  expected  the  Pioneer  to  be  pleased 
with  the  good  trade  he  had  made,  but  on  the  contrary 
he  observed  a  perplexed  cloud  upon  his  face  as  he  looked 
from  the  bill  of  sale  to  the  broncho.  Then  Mr.  Campbell 
asked :  "Aren't  he  and  the  bill  of  sale  all  right  ?" 

"I  fear  him.  The  bill  of  sale  does  not  guarantee  that 
you  can  pack  or  ride  him,  but  says  he  will  stand  and  let 
anyone  saddle  him  or  cinch  the  pack.  The  most  desperate 
bucker  will  save  his  strength  until  you  start  to  move  him 
off.  He  looks  like  a  very  healthy  pitcher,  but  we  can  only 
tell  by  trying  him." 

After  breakfast  the  packsaddle  and  outfit  were  se- 
curely cinched  to  his  back  and  Mr.  Wickham  goaded  him 
and  said,  "Get-up."  The  broncho  shot  his  head  between 
his  front,  legs,  humped  his  back,  swelled  up  and  began  to 


426 


THE  PILGRIM 


squeal  like  a  pig,  and  bucked  and  squealed  and  pitched  and 
swelled  until  he  broke  the  cinch,  and  as  he  darted  from 
under  the  pack,  he  struck  the  saddle  with  both  hind  feet 
and  tore  it  to  splinters. 

The  dark  cloud  of  wrathful  indignation  that  gathered 
upon  the  Pioneer's  brow  will  never  be  eradicated  from 
the  mind  of  Mr.  Campbell.  The  old  man  picked  up  his 
Winchester,  mounted  his  horse,  and  without  saying  a 
word,  led  the  broncho  back  toward  the  curling  smoke  in 
the  canon  below. 

Mr.  Campbell  was  almost  paralyzed  with  chagrin  and 
fear.  He  now  felt  sure  that  the  sight  of  the  band  of 
Indians  had  dislocated  the  mental  equilibrium  of  the 
Pioneer.  Mr.  Campbell,  however,  felt  that  his  own  short- 
comings were  constantly  irritating  the  situation,  and  he 
firmly  determined  at  the  first  opportunity  to  turn  his  steps 
toward  Colorado.  He  walked  to  a  high  point  and  breath- 
lessly listened  for  the  crack  of  a  Winchester.  At  the 
end  of  an  hour,  Mr.  Wickham  came  trotting  up  the  trail 
with  his  proverbial  radiant  countenance  and  Mr.  Campbell 
knew  that  he  had  gotten  complete  satisfaction  in  some  way. 

Mr.  Wickham  remarked,  in  his  usual  genial  tones, 
aWe  will  pack  our  outfit  behind  us  on  our  saddles."  Mr. 
Campbell  waited  anxiously  for  Mr.  Wickham  to  explain 
how  he  had  settled  with  the  vendor  of  the  broncho,  but 
the  old  man  never  recurred  to  the  subject. 

The  Pilgrim  felt  that  the  settlement  was  very  satis- 
factory to  the  old  man  from  the  change  from  dark  clouds 
of  wrath  to  placid  sunshine.  The  question  with  Mr. 
Campbell  was,  did  he  kill  the  broncho  trader  and  satisfy 
his  vengeance,  or  did  he  find  satisfaction  in  some  milder 
form?  However,  it  occurred  to  him  that  if  the  Pioneer 
had  settled  on  terms  that  were  safe  to  communicate,  he 


AND  THE  PIONEER  427 

would  some  time  mention  the  same.  Efe  waited  from  day 
to  day  in  anxious  expectation,  but  when  they  parted  he 
had  not  broken  the  seal  of  his  lips  on  this  dark  page  in 
their  travels. 

After  passing  the  Missoula  foot-hills  they  diverted 
their  course  and  crossed  the  range  on  to  the  Coeur  <F 
Alene  River.  They  stood  on  the  point  of  a  hill  where 
many  small  streams  come  together,  and  viewed  the  grand- 
est green  forests  that  they  had  seen  on  the  entire  trip. 
There  is  such  a  great  rainfall  in  northern  Idaho'  and  the 
adjoining  parts  of  Montana  that  the  growth  is  almost 
as  rank  and  verdant  as  in  the  tropics,  and  they  had  not 
seen  finer  summer  ranges  or  greater  forests  of  pine  and 
spruce  than  here. 

While  standing  here  admiring  the  heavy,  rich  green 
on  the  mountains  south  of  them,  their  attention  was  at- 
tracted to  the  moon  standing  in  the  sky  almost  as  distinct 
as  it  is  at  night,  though  the  bright  morning  sun  was  shin- 
ning in  all  of  his  glory.  It  was  in  the  form  of  a  crescent 
turned  this  wise  ^^^""^^  wi\h  the  lower  part  in- 
visible. A  nervous  Irish  miner  kept  circling  around  them 
with  a  mining  stake  and  a  pick,  seemingly  fearing  that 
they  might  stop  there  and  prospect.  Mr.  Campbell  said, 
"My  dear  sir,  can  you  tell  me  why  the  horns  of  the 
moon  in  Idaho  are  turned  toward  the  earth  instead  of 
Heavenward,  as  in  God's  country?" 

The  Irishman  said,  "Be  Gory,  for  the  same  reason 
that  iverything  es  wrong  side  down  and  wrong  ind  up 
out  here.  The  sun  seems  to  rise  in  the  wist  and  sit  in  the 
'ast ;  the  moon  is  cut  off  at  the  botthom  instid  of  the  top ; 
it  shoines  in  the  day  instid  of  at  noight;  wather  seems 
to  run  up  hill  instid  of  down;  and  if  you  sea  a  peak 
over  there  a  quarter  of  a  moile  away  and  start  for  it  you'll 


428  THE  PILGRIM 

be  after  chasing  it  three  to  four  moiles  before  you'll  catch 
up  with  it ;  and  the  ivolution,  that  the  scientists  talk  so 
much  about,  is  so  far  in  the  rear  here,  that  iverything  is 
wrong  end  to  and  wrong  side  down,  so  it  is."  While  they 
had  no  doubt  that  the  Irishman's  main  object  was  to  bluff 
them  out  of  stopping  here,  nevertheless  every  one  that  has 
been  on  the  western  domain  realizes  that  appearances  are 
very  much  as  depicted  in  his  eloquent  speech. 

The  mountains  here  are  literally  underlaid  with  lead 
deposits,  awaiting  transportation.  Major  Sweany,  of  the 
U.  S.  army,  informed  them  that  he  and  a  company  of 
cavalry  camped  in  the  basin  several  weeks,  and  a  number 
of  their  dogs  and  horses  died,  and  that  the  sergeant  attrib- 
uted this  to  the  lead  fumes,  saying  that  they  were  simply 
leaded. 

After  a  wholesome  rest  here  they  followed  the  Coeur 
d'Alene  River  down  to  the  Coeur  d'Alene  lake,  crossed  it, 
and  went  into  Spokane  Falls.  The  Spokane  Falls  are 
most  charming  and  the  surrounding  country  is  so  vast 
and  fertile  that  this  must  make  a  great  inland  city. 

The  Pioneer  hurried  off  to  the  postoffice  and  received 
letters  from  his  sons-in-law,  friendly,  affectionate,  newsy, 
and  apologetic  for  the  failure  of  their^  wives  to  write. 

This  deeply  affected  the  Pioneer  in  two  ways :  First, 
it  greatly  exalted  his  sons-in-law  in  his  estimation  and 
further  lowered  his  appreciation  of  the  Indian  blood  in  his 
unfortunate  daughters. 

He  rubbed  his  head  and  said,  "Poor,  unfortunate 
things;  they  are  not  to  blame,  but  I  am,  for  paying  my 
debt  of  gratitude  to  their  mother  in  this  unnatural  way. 
They  will  always  be  mere  children,  a  thousand  years  be- 
hind their  more  fortunate  sisters  and  their  adorable  hus- 
bands." 


AND  THE  PIONEER  429 

"Well,  I  shall  make  no  further  effort  to  com- 
municate with  them.  Their  superior  husbands  evi- 
dently feel  the  same  obligations  of  gratitude  to 
them  and  to  me  for  what  I  have  done  for  them,  that  I 
felt  to  Hopping  Antelope  and  Blue  jay  for  what  they  did 
for  me,  and  will  treat  them  kindly.  This  is,  after  all,  as 
much  as  they  are  capable  of  enjoying.  Oh,  what  a  noble 
race  the  Caucasian  is!  After  all  is  said -and  done,  there 
is  much  in  the  strains  of  human  blood.  The  fool  thinks 
you  can  pick  up  the  barbarians,  mix  their  blood  with  the 
Caucasians,  and  the  offspring  will  be  redeemed.  It  would 
require  a  hundred  generations  of  cross  breeding  to  bring 
up  to  our  standard  this  wild,  untamed  blood." 

The  separation  of  Mr.  Wickham  and  Mr.  Campbell 
presented  a  sad  spectacle.  The  Pilgrim  was  about  to 
collapse  as  he  said,  "Good-bye;  I  have  relied  so  much  and 
so  long  on  you,  and  with  so  much  benefit  to  myself,  that 
I  fear  I  have  not  now  the  courage  to  face  the  world  without 
the  aid  of  your  good  common  sense  and  kindly  advice." 

"Don't  think  of  that,"  replied  the  Pioneer.  "When 
our  attachment  began,  you  were  a  green  sapling,  subject  to 
the  sway  of  every  passing  breeze.  I  have  seen  you  grad- 
ually and  thoroughly  become  seasoned,  so  that  you  may 
safely  stand  on  your  own  pedestal.  I  have  often  acquiesced 
in  your  punishments;  yea,  sometimes  I  have  added  fuel 
to  the  flames  under  the  crucible  in  which  you  were  being 
tried,  but  always  for  your  good,  that  you  might  be  the 
sooner  and  more  thoroughly  seasoned.  I  am  content  to 
trust  you  everywhere  and  under  all  circumstances.  The 
morally  weak  thrive  upon  expedients ;  the  truly  strong  are 
content  with  nothing  less  than  justice.  Let  your  motto 
ever  be,  Tor  the  right,  though  the  heavens  fall.'  And 
ever  keep  this  emblazoned  on  the  horizon  of  your  ambition 


430 


THE  PILGRIM 


that  'Invigorating  optimism  is  the  gladsome  mother  of  the 
world's  successes  and  joys ;  while  pinched-f aced  pessimism 
is  the  gruesome  dame  of  its  failures  and  miseries.'  Now, 
good-bye.  You  must  go  back  to  Colorado  while  I  go  into 
British  Columbia  in  search  of  a  greater  excitement.  It  is 
too  dull  here  to  prevent  my  mind  from  recurring  to  the 
abused  past.  I  must  try  to  get  farther  from  my  victims." 
While  Mr.  Campbell  deplored  losing  the  benefit  of  the 
philosophy  and  unusual  good  common  sense  of  the  Pio- 
neer, he  experienced  a  feeling  of  relief,  because  of 
the  foreboding  of  possible  results  from  such  desperate 
remedies  as  were  resorted  to  by  him  in  the  case  of  the 
owner  of  the  gambling  hall  and  what  he  feared  had  been 
done  with  the  dealer  in  bronchos,  so,  with  a  dejected  spirit, 
he  turned  his  face  toward  the  little  law  office  in  Lake  City, 
Colorado. 


CHAPTER  XXX 

"ANOTHER  SELF/' 

When  Mr.  Campbell  reached  that  most  delightful, 
shaded,  and  cheerful  spot,  Provo,  Utah,  he  concluded  to 
stay  over  a  day  and  commune  with  his  fellows.  Though 
the  little  city  is  in  the  dry  and  thirsty  belt,  where  it  does 
not  rain  either  on  the  just  or  the  unjust,  enough  even  to 
cause  trees  or  grass  to  grow,  nevertheless,  through  the  pride 
and  enterprise  of  the  splendid  population,  gurgling  little 
ditches  were  running  on  either  side  of  the  streets  near  the 
roots  of  regular  rows  of  trees,  and  the  water  in  these 
ditches  (at  intervals  of  about  fifteen  days),  was  spread 
over  the  lawns,  making  the  whole  a  beautiful  bower  of 
fresh  grass,  flowers,  cheerful  trees,  and  vines.  There  are 
probably  thirty  miles  of  these  ditches  skirting  the  streets. 
As  Mr.  Campbell  passed  down  the  main  street,  a  short, 
spare,  dark-complexioned,  wizard-like  individual,  was 
wading  one  of  these  ditches  from  end  to  end.  A  young 
physician  informed  Mr.  Campbell  that  this  person  was  a 
splendidly  educated,  well  raised  young  man,  a  painter 
by  trade;  that  his  name  was  Teague,  of  the  firm  of 
Brown  &  Teague;  they  were  without  money,  but  had 
just  painted  the  Magnolia  Livery  Stable,  run  many 
bills,  and  expected  to  pay  them  from  their  earnings. 
When  they  presented  their  bill  to  two  ranchmen,  own- 
ers of  the  barn,  they  said:  *'We  have  no  money,  but  a 
number  of  bronchos  and  a  large  cellar  of  potatoes ;  we  will 
pay  you  in  bronchos  and  potatoes."  This  disap- 
pointment had  caused  the  young  man  to  go  upon  a  spree. 

(431) 


432  THE  PILGRIM 

As  they  approached  him,  the  physician  said,  "Mr.  Teague, 
come  out  of  that  water  and  go  to  dinner  with  me.  That 
cold  water  will  make  you  rheumatic."  As  the  young  man 
stepped  out  of  the  water  he  was  introduced  to  Mr.  Camp- 
bell. He  ran  up  under  Mr.  Campbell,  for  the  top  of  his 
head  didn't  go  above  Mr.  Campbell's  arm  pits,  and  began 
to  hallo  at  the  top  of  his  voice:  "O,  Mr.  Campbell,  come 
down  here  until  I  introduce  you  to  my  friend  Brown!" 
Just  at  this  moment  a  little  boy  drove  up  a  shepherd  dog 
hitched  to  a  little  wagon  and  piped  out,  "Introduce  my 
dog."  The  young  painter  got  the  impression  that  Mr. 
Campbell  made  this  disrespectful  remark,  and  his  dignity 
was  wounded.  He  began  to  wave  his  hand  to  his  partner, 
who  was  approaching,  and  cried  out,  "Go  on,  Mr.  Brown ; 
go  on,  Mr.  Brown;  go  on,  Mr.  Brown;  this  fellow  has 
acknowledged  that  he  is  all  dog  up  as  far  as  I  know  him, 
and  we  will  presume  him  to  be  dog  all  the  way  up."  He 
then  turned  to  the  doctor  and  said :  "I  shall  dine  with  you 
with  much  pleasure." 

One  of  the  principal  vocations  here  was  mining  on 
the  public  domain.  The  statute  required  every  one  finding 
a  mine  to  put  a  plain  sign  on  a  stake  at  the  point  of  dis- 
covery and  within  sixty  days  to  do  sufficient  work  on  it 
to  expose  the  vein.  This  is  called  doing  the  assessment. 
If  you  fail  to  do  this  work  within  sixty  days,  any  one  else 
may  stake  the  claim.  This  is  called  "jumping"  the  claim. 
Hence  every  one  here  was  talking  about  "staking  claims," 
"doing  assessments,"  "jumping  claims,"  etc.  When  the 
three  reached  the  dining-room  the  landlord  took  them  to 
a  table  occupied  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Dowling,  a  Presbyterian 
minister,  and  introduced  them.  The  painter  extended  his 
hand  and  said,  "Brother  Dowling,  you  have  come  up  here 
to  save  us  sinners,  have  you  ?"  "Yes,"  replied  the  minister ; 


AND  THE  PIONEER  433 

"I  have  come  up  here  to  stake  Provo  for  Jesus  Christ." 
The  young  painter  retorted,  "Yes,  and  if  you  don't  work 
your  assessment  in  sixty  days  the  devil  will  jump  your 
claim  sure."  The  painter  continued,  "Brother  Bowling, 
you  might  save  poor  Joe,  if  you  could  only  get  the  preju- 
dice out  of  his  mind  against  water.  Water  is  a  good 
preventive.  It  prevented  me  going  from  East  St. 
Louis  to  St.  Louis  in  1862.  General  Forest  was  quite 
anxious  for  us  to  go,  too.  Water  is  good  for  irrigation 
purposes  and  for  external  purposes ;  hut,  Brother  Dowling, 
ever  since  my  poor  old  mother  induced  me  to  read  that 
little  chapter  in  Genesis  about  the  great  deluge,  water  has 
always  tasted  to  me  like  drowned  sinners." 

After  dinner  the  three  walked  up  to  the  Mag- 
nolia Livery  Stable.  Mr.  Teague  was  very  in- 
terestingly explaining  the  signs  that  Brown  &  Teague 
had  just  painted.  He  had  completely  ignored 
Mr.  Campbell  since  the  wound  to  his  southern  dig- 
nity. The  sign  was  in  large  letters,  "Magnolia  Livery 
Stable,"  and  in  small  letters  in  the  corner,  "B.  &  T." 
Every  one  knew  these  were  the  initials  of  the  painters, 
but  Mr.  Campbell  wanted  to  reestablish  himself  with  the 
painter,  and  asked,  "What  does  'B.  &  T.7  stand  for?" 
The  painter  as  quick  as  a,  flash  replied,  "Bronchos  &  Taters 

by  ."  The  by-standers  all  gathered  around  Mr. 

Campbell  and  said,  "The  drinks  are  on  you."  Mr.  Camp- 
bell was  glad  to  do  anything  to  relieve  the  embarrassment. 

The  doctor  told  the  stable-man  to  hitch  up  the  horse, 
saying  that  he  as  going  out  a  couple  of  miles  to  the  arroyo, 
duck  hunting.  He  asked  Mr.  Campbell  if  he  would  like 
to  go.  Mr.  Campbell  said  he  would  be  delighted.  They 
adjourned  to  the  saloon  of  a  young,  smiling,  curly-haired 
Irishman,  and  all  drank  on  Mr.  Campbell.  The  doctor 


THE   PILGRIM.— 28 


434  THE  PILGRIM 

borrowed  the  Irishman's  gun  for  him  and  made  known 
his  purposa  The  Irishman  inquired,  "Just  about  how 
many  ducks  do  you  expect  to  get?" 

"I  must  be  back  at  four  o'clock  to  tend  my  calls,  but 
we  will  get  thirty  by  that  time,"  answered  the  doctor. 

The  Irishman  replied,  "I'll  bet  ye  the  drinks  for  all 
of  the  gintlemen  in  the  tannery  that  ye  won't  git  thirty." 

The  doctor  took  the  bet,  went  to  the  stable,  slipped  on 
a  buckskin  hunting  suit  fringed  with  long  strings,  with 
two  great  game  pockets  on  the  sides,  took  his  gun  and  a 
huge  red  retriever,  stepped  with  them  into  the  buggy, 
and  they  were  off  toward  the  duck  grounds.  Mr.  Camp- 
bell was  completely  enchanted  with  the  buckskin  suit.  He 
inquired  all  about  the  price,  where  they  could  be  gotten, 
etc.  The  doctor  lashed  the  horse  into  a  gallop,  saying, 
"It  has  just  occurred  to  me  that  our  Irishman  will  have 
every  drinking  man  in  Provo  in  his  tannery,  as  he  calls 
it,  on  our  return,  and  if  I  lose,  it  will  cost  me  five  dollars 
to  treat  the  crowd." 

In  a  few  moments  they  reached  a  long,  meandering 
arroyo,  with  tall  chicos  on  either  side.  At  every  turn  in 
the  arroyo  a  large  bunch  of  ducks  arose  and  the  hunters 
mowed  them  down.  The  escaping  ones  flew  about  a  mile 
further  and  lighted  on  the  lake.  When  they  reached  the 
end  of  the  arroyo  they  had  sixty-five  ducks  in  two  large 
oat-sacks.  The  retriever  worked  splendidly  and  never 
lost  a  duck.  He  was  quite  a  mathematician.  If  one  duck 
fell,  he  made  one  trip,  then  took  his  place  behind  the 
hunters.  If  two  fell,  he  made  two  trips;  if  a  half  dozen 
fell,  he  made  a  half  dozen  trips,  never  missing  a  count 
of  a  bird. 

The  ducks  were  thrown  into  the  buggy  and  they  were 
off  for  Provo.  Mr.  Campbell  at  once  began  the  conver- 


AND  THE  PIONEER  436 

sation  about  the  buckskin  suits,  and  his  desire  to  visit 
the  lake  and  fill  another  bag  before  night.  "Very  well," 
replied  the  doctor,  "you  will  have  plenty  of  time.  You 
can  get  your  suit  and  a  horse  and  cut  across  the  country 
and  get  there  in  a  few  moments."  They  soon  reached  the 
Irishman's  saloon  and  found-  it  crowded  to  the  door  with 
loungers  expecting  the  return  of  the  duck  hunters  and  a 
free  drink.  Mr.  Campbell  and  the  doctor  took  their  birds 
through  the  crowd  and  threw  them  upon  the  bar.  The 
Irishman  said  to  the  bartender,  "Partner,  count' those 
birds."  The  bartender  opened  the  doctor's  sack,  which 
held  the  greater  number,  and  counted  them  out  one  by  one 
until  he  reached  the  thirtieth  duck,  when  the  Irishman 
leaped  upon  the  bar,  and  said:  "Stop  that  count;  they 
have  at  least  five  hundred."  He  turned  to  the  crowd  and 
continued,  "Gintlemen,  I  invited  ye  in  here  that  ye  might 
git  a  free  drink  at  the  expense  of  these  handsome  nimrods 
and  that  I  might  salt  down  the  profits  therefrom,  but  the 
sly  old  fox  walked  into  his  own  trap.  Now  walk  up  and 
drink  at  the  expense  of  pretty  L.  and  laugh  with  the  gay 
hunters."  The  crowd  drank  and  jeered  the  Irishman. 
The  doctor  threw  him  a  half  dozen  big  mallards  and 
he  and  Mr.  Campbell  hurried  to  the  stable.  Mr.  Campbell 
ordered  a  horse  saddled,  stepped  over  to  the  store,  and 
soon  returned  dressed  in  a  suit  of  buckskin.  With  his 
angular  form  and  high  cheek  bones,  he  looked  like  a  well- 
cared  for  Pi-Ute.  He  mounted  his  horse,  whistled  up  the 
retriever,  and  cantered  rapidly  away  toward  the  lake. 
The  marshes  near  the  lake  were  black  with  ducks  and 
they  had  not  been  hunted  much  and  were  tame.  Mr. 
Campbell  slaughtered  them  while  they  sat  in  the  sloughs, 
and  soon  had  thirty  ducks  pushed  into  his  big  pockets. 
The  weight  of  them  had  tired  him  out,  but  fortunately 


436 


THE  PILGRIM 


he  had  a  cowboy  saddle,  covered  with  long  buckskin 
strings.  He  took  the  ducks  from  his  pockets  and  securely 
tied  them  to  his  saddle  and  mounted  his  horse.  In  the 
distance  he  saw  six  or  eight  persons  dressed  in  leather 
suits  coming  at  a  wild  run  toward  him  with  guns  in  hand. 
His  horse  became  excited. .  Mr.  Campbell  exclaimed, 
"Indians !"  turned  his  horse's  head  toward  Provo,  plowed 
the  spurs  into  his  flank,  and  the  excited  steed  made  a  bee 
line  for  the  city.  The  chargers  opened  fire  on  him.  He 
dropped  himself  over  by  the  side  of  the  horse  and  plowed 
the  spurs  into  him.  The  excited  animal  with  his  nostrils 
turned  inside  out,  to'ok  a  course  as  straight  as  a  gun  shot, 
leaping  arroyos,  fences,  and  all  kinds  of  obstructions.  The 
pursuers  with  a  war  whoop  were  close  in  pursuit,  firing 
their  Winchesters  at  him  every  few  jumps.  Just  before 
he  reached  the  city  a  bullet  passed  through  his  hat  and  took 
the  hide  from  a  long  strip  on  the  noble  steed's  neck.  This 
caused  an  increase  of  speed  and  made  Mr.  Campbell  press 
his  body  closer  to  the  animal's  neck.  He  came  in  a  dead 
run  right  up  to  the  porch  of  the  hotel  and  simply  rolled 
from  his  horse  and  into  the  house,  out  of  wind  and  tremb- 
ling like  an  aspen  leaf.  The  guests  of  the  hotel  gathered 
about  him  and  asked  the  cause  of  this  strange  conduct. 
Mr.  Campbell  gasped  out,  "O,  a  band  of  wild  Indians 
followed  me  right  into  the  city !  Look  at  the  bull(-t  holes 
in  my  hat  and  look  at  the  poor  horse's  bleeding  neck !" 

In  a  few  moments  the  band  of  pursuing  cowboys  in 
a  wild  run  reached  the  porch  of  the  hotel,  leaped  from 
their  horses,  and  asked  the  landlord  where  the  Indian 
horse  thief  went  that  rode  that  horse  up  there.  The  land- 
lord smiled  and  said  no  Indian  rode  that  horse.  The  cow- 
boys pulled  their  guns  and  replied.  "We  will  search  the 
house.  We  will  tolerate  no  harboring  of  Indian  horse 


AND  THE  PIONEER  437 

thieves  here."  The  landlord  smiled  and  answered,  "Search 
her  from  cellar  to  garret,  boys."  The  excited  cowboys 
rushed  into  the  hotel  with  drawn  revolvers.  In  the  office 
they  ran  upon  Mr.  Campbell,  dressed  in  his  new  fringed 
buckskin  suit,  with  his  teeth  chattering  as  if  he  had  the 
southern  ague.  The  searchers  saw  the  truth  of  the  situ- 
ation at  a  glance.  A  rough,  burly  one  punched  Mr.  Camp- 
bell in  the  side  with  his  gun,  and  said:  "Pi-Ute,  you 
would  better  pull  off  that  Indian  suit,  or  stay  in  the 
house,  or  some  one  will  send  you  to  the  happy  hunting 
grounds."  Mr.  Campbell's  fear  was  too  great  for  utterance. 
All  he  could  do  was  to  stand  and  stare  the  searchers  in  the 
face.  One  of  the  milder  cowboys  suggested,  "Well,  boys, 
that's  all  right.  I  guess  the  drinks  are  on  us."  One  of 
them  looked  at  Mr.  Campbell  and  inquired,  "Indian,  this 
includes  you,  too."  Mr.  Campbell  answered,  "No,  thank 
you;  I  don't  drink."  The  big,  burly  one  grasped  him  by 
the  nose,  ran  the  barrel  of-  his  revolver  up  one  nostril, 
and  said,  "Yes,  I  guess  you  do  drink,  too,"  and  led  him 
up  to  the  bar.  They  took  round  after  round  of  drinks. 
In  their  cups  they  began  rather  to  lionize  Mr.  Campbell. 
The  big,  burly  one  came  up  and  punching  him  in 
the  ribs  with  his  thumb,  inquired,  "Say,  Pi-Ute,  can  you 
do  anything  but  wear  those  buckskin  clothes  and  run  like 


"Yes,"  answered  Mr.  Campbell,  "I  can  kill  ducks." 

"Where  are  they?" 

"I  have  thirty  of  as  fine  mallards  on  my  saddle  as 
ever  graced  a  pot,"  replied  Mr.  Campbell. 

The  big,  burly  one  said,  "Now,  tenderfoot,  I  know 
this  is  your  game  and  I  am  a  sucker  to  bite  at  it,  but  I'll 
bet  you  ten  dollars  you  haven't  got  a  duck." 

"I  never  bet,"  answered  Mr.   Campbell,  "and  if  I 


438  THE  PILGRIM 

did,  I  wouldn't  take  this  one,  because  I  know  I  have  them 
and  to  bet  would  be  like  robbing  you." 

The  big,  burly  cowboy  looked  him  in  the  eye  and  re- 
plied, "Yes,  you  told  me  you  did  not  drink,  but  you  do, 
and  I  guess  you  bet,  too." 

"Yes,  yes,"  replied  Mr.  Campbell,  "I'll  bet  with  you 
just  this  one  time,  but  I  don't  like  to  take  your  money 
on  a  dead  sure  thing." 

The  cowboy  put  his  ten  dollars  in  the  landlord's  hands, 
and  said,  "Put  up  your  dough."  Mr.  Campbell  meekly 
put  up  ten  dollars.  All  hands  adjourned  to  the  jaded 
horse  to  decide  the  bet.  Mr.  Campbell  reluctantly  strolled 
along  behind  wondering  whether  this  cowboy  would  kill 
him  after  he  had  won  his  money.  Think  of  the  chagrin 
and  humiliation  of  the  Pilgrim  when  they  reached  his 
horse  and  found  his  saddle  artistically  decorated  with 
thirty  beautiful  duck  heads  without  a  body  of  a  duck  in- 
tact. In  this  wild  run  the  heavy  bodies  had  wrung  them- 
selves from  the  heads. 

This  first  day  of  civilization  away  from  the  control- 
ing  influences  of  the  Pioneer  was  a  succession  of  mistakes, 
chagrins  and  humiliations.  The  Pilgrim  spent  a  sleepless 
night  and  was  first  at  breakfast,  and,  fortunately  for  his 
sensitive  feelings,  got  out  of  Provo  without  meeting  any 
of  the  witnesses  to  his  blunders.  When  he  became  a  soli- 
tary traveler  on  the  long,  lonesome  road,  his  meditations 
brought  on  melancholy  and  intense  thought.  He  inquir- 
ed, "What  is  the  use  of  trying  to  rely  upon  this  abnormal 
self  ?  It  can't  be  trusted.  It  is  erratic,  unstable,  a  frosted 
reed."  He  realized  fully  that  his  mental  vision  seemed 
to  have  a  reverse  action.  What  he  expected  to  be  wise, 
others  thought  foolish.  Acts  that  he  thought  should  bring 
people  to  him  set  them  against  him.  What  he  chose  as 


440 


THE  PILGRIM 


calculated  to  influence  others  disgusted  them.  He  was 
conscious  that  he  had  miscarried  at  every  turn  in  the  road 
since  he  left  the  old  homestead.  He  gave  up  all  hope  of 
succeeding,  mentally,  morally,  or  socially,  with  the  old 
self.  His  mental  vision  seemed  to  be  adjusted  obliquely; 
nature  seemed  to  have  been  at  fault  in  his  whole  mental 
construction.  aWhy  not  graft  or  bud  on  the  scion 
of  some  other  self?  If  it  is  true  that  nothing  in  the 
great  economy  of  nature  is  lost,  then  what  becomes  of 
the  myriads  of  great  thoughts  turned  loose  in  infinite 
space?  Why  not  attune  the  nerves  and  brain  to  receive 
the  thoughts  emanating  from  greater  intellects?  Why 
are  there  so  many  minds  at  greatly  removed  places,  re- 
ceiving the  same  impressions  at  the  same  time,  unless 
thought,  the  very  essence  of  the  soul,  shot  through  the 
great  electric  battery,  the  brain,  is  carried  on  the  undu- 
lating waves  until  a  mind  is  reached  properly  adjusted  to 
receive  it  ?"  John  Campbell  declared  that  he  would  throw 
off  the  old  self,  as  a  serpent  casts  off  its  epidermis  with  the 
approach  of  warm  weather,  and  attune  his  faculties  to 
receive  the  great  thoughts  and  aspirations  of  the  Pioneer ; 
that  henceforth  he  would  live  another  self. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

MR.  CAMPBELL'S  FIRST  TEST. 

In  the  early  spring  Mr.  Campbell  was  again  ensconced 
in  his  little  law  office  in  the  happiest  mood  that  he  had  felt 
since  his  departure.  His  friends  were  coming  and  going 
on  divers  missions.  The  good  Methodist  ladies  soon 
ushered  in  a  young  minister  and  introduced  him.  One 
of  them  suggested,  "Mr.  Campbell,  we  are  scarce  of  house- 
room  and  we  have  come  to  see  if  you  will  not  permit  Bro. 
Munson  to  move  his  cot  and  trunk  into  your  office." 
This  startled  Mr.  Campbell.  He  answered,  "W'y  I  am 
afraid  he  would  not  enjoy  it.  I  am  quite  worldly;  I  am 
hard  to  understand ;  people  don't  take  to  me/'  He  gasped 
and  drew  back.  This  was  the  old  self.  The  thought 
flashed  over  his  mind,  "This  must  be  decided  by  what  my 
mentor  would  do — my  other  self" — and  before  the  ladies 
could  reply,  he  continued,  "Yes,  move  right  in;  you  will 
be  quite  welcome  if  you  can  endure  my  scant  hospitalities." 

Rev.  Munson  and  the  ladies,  one  by  one,  grasped  him 
by  the  hand  and  heartily  shook  it,  and  in  turn  told  him 
how  he  had  relieved  them  of  a  great  embarrassment,  and 
hurried  away  to  move  in  his  trappings.  Mr.  Campbell 
began  to  meditate  rapidly  upon  what  the  old  self  was 
wont  to  do  and  what  the  other  self  did  do ;  what  the  con- 
duct of  these  visitors  would  have  been  if  his  first  inclina- 
tion had  been  carried  out.  But  he  resolved  that  there 
should  be  no  mixture  of  weakness  and  strength  in  the 
situation;  that  all  must  be  strength  and  justice  in  dealing 
with  the  new  lodger.  . 

(441) 


442 


THE  PILGRIM 


In  the  evening  before  retiring  Rev.  Munson  dropped, 
upon  his  knees  and  fervently  prayed  aloud  for  all  such 
things  as  he  needed  as  well  as  thanking  God  for  the  few 
things  he  had  on  hand.  This  thoroughly  aroused  in  his 
host  the  manly  spirit  of  the  other  self.  When  he  arose 
Mr.  Campbell  inquired,  "Mr.  Munson,  don't  you  think 
God  requires  us  to  use  the  means  He  has  given  us  to  obtain 
these  temporal  wants,  rather  than  to  beg?"  The  minister 
dogmatically  answered,  "If  I  should  fervently  pray  with 
sufficient  faith  I  could  work  a  removal  of  Uncompahgre 
Peak." 

"Well,"  replied  Mr.  Campbell,  "I  think  it  would  be 
more  complimentary  to  God  if  you  would  take  a  drill, 
hammer,  dynamite,  and  the  brain  and  muscle  He  has 
given  you,  and  go  up  there  and  blow  it  off.  God  gives 
nothing  in  this  life.  He  sells  every  blessing." 

"Mr.  Campbell,  I  am  pained  to  learn  that  you  have 
no  faith  in  prayer." 

"There  you  are  mistaken,  Mr.  Munson ;  I  believe  every 
time  I  get  upon  my  knees  and  pray  fervently  to  overcome 
my  evil  passions,  I  get  aid  from  some  source.  I  admit 
that  I  have  much  more  faith  in  good  works.  I  have  no 
patience  with  the  sects  that  slothfully  stand  around  upon 
their  knees  and  allow  their  children  to  suck  the  fumes  of 
death  from  rotten  vegetation  in  the  cellar  and  drink 
deadly  poison  from  filthy  cisterns,  permit  them  to  decay 
gradually  in  unventilated  huts,  and  then  hover  over  their 
dead  forms  and  say,  'God's  will  be  done/  If  such  a  father 
had  done  his  duty,  God's  will  would  have  been  for  life 
instead  of  death.  Christ  said,  'Seek  and  you  shall  find; 
knock  and  it  shall  be  opened  unto  you.'  He  did  not  say, 
'Sit  down  and  let  God  bring  it  to  you;'  He  said,  'Go 
after  it.'  " 


AND  THE  PIONEER  443 

Mr.  Munson  looked  at  Mr.  Campbell  pityingly  and 
answered,  "I  shall  pray  for  you." 

On  Saturday  evening  Mr.  Munson  prayed  fervently 
for  five  dollars  to  pay  the  rent  on  his  little  log  church  and 
Sunday  morning  he  sent  up  the  same  petition.  At  church 
he  asked  Mr.  Campbell  to  pass  the  hat.  After  the  bene- 
diction General  Slocum  walked  down  to  the  law  office  with 
Mr.  Campbell.  In  a  few  moments  Mr.  Munson  came 
bounding  in,  saying,  "Mr.  Campbell,  I  have  demonstrated 
the  power  of  prayer.  You  remember  my  prayer  last 
night  and  this  morning  for  five  dollars  to  pay  the  rent 
of  the  church.  When  the  hat  was  passed  this  morning 
we  got  five  dollars  to  a  cent." 

Mr.  Campbell  answered,  "You  should  thank  the 
people  for  this." 

"No,  no,"  replied  Mr.  Munson,  "I  thank  God  for 
putting  it  into  their  hearts." 

Mr.  Campbell  suggested  that  it  was  a  mere  coinci- 
dence, but  Mr.  Munson  insisted  that  it  was  the  providence 
of  God  in  answer  to  his  prayer. 

Mr.  Campbell  replied,  "Your  prayer  brought  the 
exact  amount,  but  I,  instead  of  God,  heard  your  prayer. 
I  kept  track  of  the  money  as  it  was  placed  in  the  hat  and 
when  I  had  finished  I  had  but  four  dollars  and  I  put  in 
a  dollar  to  make  up  your  rent.  If  I  hadn't  heard  your 
prayer  I  would  have  put  in  twenty-five  cents.  Then  you 
would  have  been  seventy-five  cents  short." 

General  Slocum  raised  his  glasses  and  shouted, 
"Brother  Munson,  suppose  Echlin  &  Route's  planing  mill 
should  be  on  fire  and  you  should  humble  yourself  and  pray 
to  God  to  quench  the  flames.  Do  you  think  he  would  do  it  ?" 

"Yes,"  answered  Mr.  Munson,  "if  I  showed  the 
adequate  faith." 


444 


THE  PILGRIM 


"No,  no,  no,"  answered  Sltfcum;  "he  would  look 
down  upon  you  with  scorn,  and  say,  'You  lazy  scoundrel, 
there  is  the  Gunnison  River ;  go  and  get  a  bucket,  and  put 
out  the  fire  yourself.'  "  In  three  months  Mr.  Campbell  had 
this  preacher  depending  upon  good  works  rather  than  long 
prayers.  This  success  strengthened  the  Pilgrim  quite  as 
much  as  it  did  the  young  preacher.  Mr.  Campbell  said, 
"Figuratively  speaking,  I  have  begun  with  the  calf  and 
now  I  am  ready  to  test  my  growing  strength  with  the  ox." 
He  continued  to  "attune  himself  for  higher  things,"  and 
awaited  patiently  the  presentation  of  a  greater  opportunity. 
Mr.  Munson  became  a  devoted  teacher  of  self-reliance, 
high  ideals,  and  good  works  as  the  road  to  salvation. 


CHAPTER  XXXIL 

INFLUENCE  OF  A  NOBLE  ACT. 

In  1878  the  Indian  Bureau  at  Washington  tried  one 
of  many  foolish  experiments  with  the  savage  White  River 
Ute  tribe.  It  appointed  the  venerable,  steadfast,  and  in- 
corrigible Meeker  as  agent,  knowing  that  he  would  ruth- 
lessly invade  their  most  sacred  idols  and  traditions.  Al- 
most instantly  after  he  was  inducted  into  his  office  he 
demanded  that  these  hunters  be  converted  into  plowmen; 
that  their  beautiful  grazing-meadows  be  turned  into  grain- 
fields  and  their  dancing-seasons  into  schooldays. 

These  were  most  laudable  aspirations,  and,  if  they 
had  been  approached  gradually,  an  impression  could  have 
been  made  in  a  few  generations. 

The  state  officials  and  home  population  tried  to  sug- 
gest and  advise,  but  he  would  not  yield  unenlightened  im- 
pressions to  the  greater  experience  of  others. 

He  prodded  the  Indians  on  day  by  day  until  they  were 
in  open  rebellion.  He  then  called  in  the  military.  At 
their  approach,  these  red  fiends  murdered  the  agent,  drove 
barrel  staves  through  his  body,  murdered  all  of  the  male 
employes,  took  the  women  as  hostages  into  the  wilds  of 
the  mountains,  intercepted  General  Thornburough's  troop 
in  a  deep,  narrow  defile  in  the  mountains,  massacred  them 
and  escaped.  This  stirred  the  martial  spirit  of  the  people 
of  Colorado  to  fighting  heat  Lake  City  was  a  little  min- 
ing-camp with  not  more  than  one  or  two  thousand  people, 
three  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  the  capital  of  the 
state,  without  railroad,  transportation,  or  telegraph  com- 

(445) 


44C 


THE  PILGRIM 


munication,  and  yet  the  people  here  organized  the  Pitkin 
Guards  and  announced  to  the  governor,  whose  name  they 
had  taken,  that  they  were  ready  for  any  military  duty 
he  might  assign  to  them. 

The  recruiting  officer  solicited  the  enrollment  of  Mr. 
Campbell.  He  was  averse  to  the  militia  and  to  the  law 
of  physical  force  in  any  form.  He  replied:  "O,  you 
have  plenty  who  desire  this  work.  I  abhor  it.  You  will 

please  ex ,"  then  he  threw  up  his  hands  and  answered : 

"I  will  enlist,  of  course;  every  one  should  in  times  of 
dire  distress,"  and  he  hurriedly  signed  the  roll.  He  was 
startled  at  the  insidious  reapproach  of  that  abandoned, 
cast-off  self.  He  now  firmly  determined  never  again 
to  go  off  guard.  He  determined  then  and  there  to  be 
the  most  assiduous,  dutiful  and  fearless  in  the  ranks.  He 
took  down  a  large  card  board  and  wrote:  "Let  your 
motto  ever  be,  'The  morally  weak  thrive  on  expedients; 
the  truly  strong  are  content  with  nothing  less  than  natural 
justice.'  Tor  the  right,  though  the  heavens  fall/  ' 
the  parting  injunction  of  the  Pioneer.  He  pinned  these 
upon  the  wall  at  the  foot  of  his  bed.  The  company  now 
began  to  meet  nightly  for  drill.  Mr.  Campbell  was 
always  at  his  post.  He  was  among  the  first  upon  the 
ground,  and  never  departed  until  everything  was  in  its 
proper  place.  His  dutiful  conduct  soon  attracted  the 
favorable  notice  of  all  the  officers.  A  corporal  dropped 
out  and  every  officer  made  it  his  pleasure  to  see  that  Mr. 
Campbell  was  elevated  to  the  place,  a  favor  which  excited 
the  envy  of  many  in  the  ranks. 

The  Governor  called  them  into  service,  and  war-order 
No.  1  was,  "Bring  in,  dead  or  alive,  all  hostile  Indians 
found  off  the  reservation."  A  copy  of  this  order  was 
posted  in  the  armory.  Mr.  Campbell  was  detailed  to 


AND  THE  PIONEER  447 

visit  the  Guard  at  the  arm6ry  at  ten  P.  M.  before  retiring, 
and  see  that  everything  was  in  order.  He  performed  this 
duty  and  went  to  bed.  The  Guard  became  green-eyed  with 
envy.  Think  of  this  tenderfoot  being  elevated  over  the 
heads  of  the  old  residents !  It  was  intolerable.  They  de- 
vised ways  and  means  to  destroy  him.  They  took  down 
order  No.  1  and  wrote,  "How  can  one  tell  a  hostile  from 
a  docile  Indian  ?"  and  sent  two  men  down  at  three  o'clock 
in  the  morning  to  make  this  inquiry.  When  their  mis- 
sion was  made  known,  Mr.  Campbell  did  not  lose  his 
temper  or  apparently  discover  the  motive.  He  gathered 
a  pen  and  wrote:  "Consider  all  Indians  off  the  reserva- 
tion hostile,  and  bring  them  in,  dead  or  alive,  and  we 
will  determine  their  docility  afterward."  The  men  took 
their  query  and  answer  back  and  posted  them.  The  next 
morning  when  the  captain  and  lieutenant  arrived,  the 
men  derisively  pointed  to  the  query  and  answer,  expecting, 
a  harsh  reprimand  to  Mr.  Campbell.  The  captain  care- 
fully read  them,  and  replied:  "That  is  the  kind  of  ma- 
terial that  makes  the  great  soldier.  This  young  man  is 
the  bright  rising  star  in  this  company."  His  traducers 
turned  black  in  the  face  and  about-faced.  Soon  the  first 
sergeant  dropped  out  of  the  rank  and  Mr.  Campbell  was 
elevated  to  his  place. 

Before  the  Indian  war  ceased,  Bates  &  Benton,  pro- 
prietors of  a  dance  house,  attempted  to  rob  a  furnished 
residence.  The  sheriff  and  marshal  learned  of  their  in- 
tention and  concealed  themselves  in  a  dark  hall,  and  as 
the  older  one  entered  the  sheriff  ordered  him  to  throw  up 
his  hands.  Mr.  Bates  fired  into  the  'dark  hall  and  ran 
away.  The  sheriff  dropped  dead  in  the  hall.  The  marshal 
immediately  gave  the  alarm  and  in  a  few  moments  the 


448  THE  PILGRIM 

dance  house  proprietors  were  in  the  custody  of  the  of- 
ficers. 

The  sheriff  was  a  miner,  and  when  the  news  was 
noised  around  among  the  hills  five  hundred  miners  gath- 
ered about  the  jail,  demanding  vengeance  on  the  murderer. 
Mr.  Campbell  was  detailed  with  a  number  of  guards  to 
protect  the  prisoner.  At  twilight  the  first  lieutenant  called 
Mr.  Campbell  aside  and  said,  "Sergeant,  these  miners  in- 
tend to  hang  the  murderer  tonight.  He  deserves  hanging. 
You  make  an  appearance  of  resisting,  but  don't  resist 
or  hurt  any  of  them.  The  leaders  have  been  informed 
that  you  will  make  much  pretense  of  resisting  without 
real  resistance.  The  murderer  is  not  worth  defending." 
Mr.  Campbell  replied,  "Never !  never !  ^  As  long  as  I  am 
in  charge  of  this  prisoner  I  shall  protect  him."  The 
lieutenant  answered,  "Very  well,  sir;  you  are  relieved 
.until  nine  o'clock  tomorrow,  at  which  time  you  will  report 
at  the  armory."  He  laid  down  his  gun  and  went  to  the 
office.  He  looked  at  his  mottoes  and  said,  "No,  no;  I 
can't  stay  here.  Justice  must  be  done."  He  went  out 
in  search  of  the  captain,  the  deputy  sheriff,  the  marshal  and 
the  justice,  but  could  find  none  of  them.  He  said,  "They 
are  a  part  of  the  mob."  He  walked  into  the  crowd 
and  began  criticizing  mob  violence  as  beneath  the  aspira- 
tions of  a  really  civilized  being.  As  he  went  from  man 
to  man  in  his  opposition  he  learned  that  he  was  lecturing 
his  captain,  yet  he  never  winced,  but  poured  the  hot  shot 
right  into  him.  The  captain  suggested,  "We  will  go  and 
get  our  company  and  protect  the  prisoner;  you  are  quite 
right,"  but  when  they  endeavored  to  leave,  the  mob  would 
not  permit  it,  and  the  captain  and  the  sergeant  were 
placed  under  arrest. 

Soon  the  mob  moved  to  the  jail.    The  guards  ordered, 


THE  PILGRIM.— 29. 


THEY  PAID  THE  PENALTY. 


AND  THE  PIONEER  451 

"Halt,"  but  no  one  halted.  They  knocked  the  door  down, 
threw  a  rope  around  the  murderer's  neck  and  pulled  him 
out.  A  few  weeks  before,  the  smaller  man  had  grossly 
offended  a  certain  politician  of  the  town.  The  politician 
had  quite  a  coterie  of  friends  and  had  conspired  with  them 
to  take  advantage  of  the  occasion  and  hang  Mr.  Benton, 
the  petty  thief,  not  because  he  had  done  anything  to  the 
sheriff,  but  to  glut  the  politician's  vengeance.  The  con- 
spirators threw  a  rope  around  the  petty  thief's  neck  and 
dragged  him  out.  Mr.  Campbell  cut  the  rope  three  times, 
trying  to  save  the  man,  but  they  overpowered  him  and 
held  him  fast.  The  mob  took  the  two  to  the  Ocean 
Wave  Bridge,  threw  the  ropes  over  the  beams  of  the 
bridge,  and  pulling  them  up  six  feet  from  the  floor, 
tied  them  there  and  left  them  till  morning.  The 
murderer  did  not  seem  to  move  a  muscle  and  appeared 
to  expire  from  mere  will-power,  but  the  thief  had 
small  hands  and  fat  wrists,  and  he  slipped  one  hand  out 
of  the  handcuffs  and  pulled  himself  up  by  grasping  the 
ropes.  He  felt  innocent  and  died  with  his  tongue  between 
his  teeth  at  the  end  of  a  great  struggle.  The  conspirators 
grasped  him,  tied  his  hands  behind  him  and  taking  him 
by  the  legs,  pulled  the  rope  tighter  around  his  neck. 
The  next  day  the  mob  saw  the  murderer  buried  before  the 
sheriff  and  then  dispersed. 

Mr.  Campbell  reported  to  the  armory  to  receive  a 
knowledge  of  his  fate  for  refusing  to  merely  play  soldier. 
The  lieutenant  reported  the  sergeant  for  disobeying  orders. 
The  captain  asked  him,  fortunately  in  the  presence  of  the 
company,  if  he  had  any  explanation  of  his  conduct. 

"Yes,"  answered  Mr.  Campbell,  "I  felt  that  there 
was  greater  credit  in  disobey  ing -than  in  obeying  such  an 
order.  I  was  asked  to  play  the  part  of  a  tin-soldier.  As 


452 


THE  PILGRIM 


I  enlisted  as  a  real  soldier,  I  declined  to  disgrace  myself 
and  the  company,  even  at  the  command  of  a  superior 
officer.  Why  are  the  militia  called  tin-soldiers?  It  is 
because  of  their  poor  mettle,  their  proverbially  unsoldier- 
like  conduct.  Ignoble,  indeed,  is  he  who  conspires  in  these 
uniforms  against  the  laws  he  is  sworn  to  uphold.  The 
crimson  blood  of  that  petty  thief  is  indelibly  impressed 
on  these  uniforms.  What  a  causeless  and  inhuman  dis- 
grace! Tin-soldiers,  indeed,  unless  there  is  some  lower 
level !  Why  does  not  the  state  furnish  us  with  alder  guns 
and  leaden  bayonets  ?  They  would  be  commensurate  with 
our  conduct  last  nighk  That  order  was  mothered  by 
hypocrisy,  fathered  by  false  pretense,  and  written  in  in- 
nocent blood.  The  only  honorable,  open  way  was  to  dis- 
obey it.  I  am  ready  to  receive  my  punishment.'/  From 
every  part  of  the  armory  came  the  cry,  "No!  no!  no! 
He  is  not  the  guilty  one.  He  deserves  promotion."  The 
captain  said  he  felt  that  the  punishment  should  be  visited 
upon  his  own  head;  that  he  was  the  culprit;  that  while 
disobedience  to  orders,  especially  at  this  time,  could  not 
be  countenanced,  there  was  such  credit  in  disobeying  one 
so  disgraceful  that  he  would  not,  he  could  not,  lose  the 
opportunity  of  praising  this  sterling  conduct.  He  humbly 
apologized  for  having  permitted  the  promulgation  of  this 
unsoldierly  order,  and  assured  the  company  that  the  laud- 
able conduct  of  the  sergeant  should  be  the  future  rallying 
cry  of  the  Pitkin  Guards. 

In  a  few  short  weeks  Dan  Early  assaulted  a  scarlet 
woman,  an  inmate  of  a  dance  hall,  who  was  quite  popular 
with  the  frequenters  of  these  resorts.  The  sheriff  learned 
that  the  dance  house  and  saloon  customers  had  organized 
a  mob  to  take  Early  from  the  jail  that  evening,  and 
asked  the  captain  of  the  Pitkin  Guards  for  a  detail  of 


AND  THE   PIONEER  453 

troops.  Mr.  Campbell  was  assigned  to  take  twelve  picked 
men  to  protect  the  prisoner  at  all  hazards.  At  two  o'clock 
in  the  morning  a  mob  of  two  hundred  motley  men  ap- 
proached the  jail  with  a  sledge  hammer  and  a  rope.  When 
they  got  within  ten  paces  of  the  jail  the  guard  stood 
with  fixed  bayonets.  Mr.  Campbell  commanded  a  halt. 
The  mob  stopped  and  the  leader  said :  "Sergeant,  we  are 
friends  of  yours  and  of  the  people.  You  give  us  the 
keys  and  retire  and  we  will  do  our  work  orderly  and 
quickly,  and  you  will  have  done  you  full  duty,  as  it  would 
be  folly  for  you  to  try  to  keep  back  these  two  hundred 
men." 

Mr.  Campbell  replied,  "No  man  can  be  a  friend  of 
mine  who  attempts  to  interfere  with  my  duties,  and  if 
you  enter  this  jail  it  will  be  over  the  dead  bodies  of  every 
soldier  here,  and  I  now  warn  you  that  no  leader  will 
be  left  alive  to  tell  the  story  if  you  even  attempt  it." 

The  spokesman  answered,  "0,  yes,  we  know  you  have 
to  do  your  duty,  but  you  can't  stand  off  this  mob,  and 
we  will  now  move  on  the  jail  and  break  down  the  doors 
if  you  deny  us  the  keys." 

Mr.  Campbell  gave  the  orders,  "Ready,  aim,"  and 
the  twelve  soldiers  had  their  cocked  guns  at  their  shoul- 
ders. The  mob  back-stepped  a  few  feet,  .astounded  at 
the  audacity  and  determination  of  the  young  sergeant. 
Mr.  Campbell  then  addressed  the  soldiers  as  follows :  "If 
anyone  advances  a  step,  fire  and  then  charge,  and  keep 
firing  and  charging  as  long  as  a  man  has  his  face  toward 
this  jail."  This  dauntless  courage  and  determination 
paralyzed  the  leaders  and  they  began  to  weaken  and  in 
a  few  moments  went  sullenly  away,  saying,  "It  is  folly 
to  give  twenty-five  good  men  for  this  worthless  ona" 


454 


THE  PILGRIM 


The  newspapers  were  full  of  praise  for  the  conduct  of 
this  troop. 

On  Saturday  night  when  the  company  met  at  the 
armory  the  sergeant  made  a  simple  written  report  of 
what  had  occurred.  The  guard  was  covered  with  praise 
by  the  officers  and  heartily  applauded  by  the  men.  In 
a  couple  of  weeks  clippings  were  gathered  from  Eastern 
and  Western  papers  holding  up  this  conduct  as  a  model 
for  the  militia  and  officers  of  the  country.  Governor 
Pitkin  detailed  a  scouting  party  from  this  company  to 
reconnoiter  the  Uncompahgre  Valley,  where  the  Southern 
TJtes  were  located.  This  caused  envy  among  many  other 
companies.  Later  the  Denver  companies  offered  prizes 
for  the  best  drilled  men  in  the  state.  The  Pitkin  Guards 
sent  up  two  contestants.  Officers  of  the  U.  S.  army  were 
appointed  as  judges.  Mr.  Crowley  of  the  Pitkin  Guards 
was  awarded  first  prize,  and  Mr.  Hammond  of  the  same 
company  tied  for  the  second.  This  so  stirred  the  feeling 
of  envy  in  the  capital  companies  that  they  failed  to  deliver 
the  prizes  for  months,  if  they  ever  did.  Subsequently  two 
adjutant  generals  and  two  inspector  generals  were,  by 
different  governors,  appointed  from  this  company,  giving 
it  the  greatest  distinction  of  any  like  organization  in  the 
state.  This  all  grew  out  of  the  Wickhamizing  of  the  moral 
code  of  the  company.  It  grew  out  of  following  the 
mottoes  of  the  Pioneer:  "The  morally  weak  thrive  on 
expedients;  the  truly  great  are  satisfied  with  nothing  less 
than  natural  justice."  "For  the  right,  though  the  heav- 
ens fall."  A  close  following  of  these  mottoes  will  bring 
a  like  success  in  any  profession  or  calling. 


CHAPTER,  XXXIIL 

PERFECT  IDEALS  ONLY  ARE  EFFECTIVE. 

The  murdered  petty  thief  had  long  lived  with 
a  certain  scarlet  woman,  Hellen  Mallory,  by  name, 
who  sank  into  a  pensive  grief  after  his  bur- 
ial. She  dressed  in  deep  mourning  and  associated 
alone  with  her  young  daughter.  When  the  business 
men  saw  her  grief  they  began  to  talk.  Every  one 
said,  "She  has  a  natural  modesty  and  refinement  in- 
consistent with  her  life.  She  has  always  been  very  lady- 
like in  all  of  her  dealings  with  us."  In  a  few  weeks  after 
her  paramour  was  hanged  her  little  daughter  fell  sick 
with  fever  which  soon  took  her  to  her  grave.  The  mother 
went  into  a  complete  solitude  and  gloom.  Every  one 
pitied  her,  but  no  one  was  brave  enough  to  help  her.  The 
women  said  her  lot  was  what  she  deserved ;  the  men  said 
they  would  like  to  help  her,  but  the  world  would  mis- 
construe their  conduct,  and  they  did  not  care  to  compro- 
mise themselves. 

Mr.  Campbell  heard  much  of  this  talk,  but  he  was 
not  aesthetic  or  particularly  inclined  to  the  opposite  sex. 
He  had  often  thought,  however,  of  an  expression  used 
on  one  occasion  by  the  Pioneer:  "What  inhumanity  of 
man  to  woman !"  Mr.  Campbell  said,  "Yes,  and  the 
much  greater  inhumanity  of  woman  to  woman."  Then 
he  would  say,  "Why  don't  the  women  look  after  her?" 
He  was  conscious  of  a  failure  to  live  up  to  the  highest 
humane  standard,  but  he  realized  that  he  was  awkward 

and  no  favorite  with  the  gentler  sex. 
(455) 


456 


THE  PILGRIM 


While  he  was  doubting  between  timidity  and  duty, 
the  pale,  haggard  mistress  of  the  murdered  petty  thief 
entered  the  little  law  office  one  afternoon,  and  introduced 
herself.  She  said,  "I  heard  of  your  manly  conduct  in 
trying  to  save  Mr.  Ben  ton  from  the  mob,  and  my  first 
duty  is  to  extend  to  you  my  sincere  thanks  for  your 
noble  conduct.  From  the  time  of  my  disgrace  and  aban- 
donment by  the  world  I  had  one  dear  tie,  my  little  daugh- 
ter. She  has  been  taken  from  me,  and  I  have  concluded  to 
follow  her  in  a  few  days.  I  have  a  few  hundred  dollars' 
worth  of  jewelry  and  ready  money  in  a  safety  deposit 
vault  which  I  wish  to  leave  to  you,  and  if  you  will  make 
out  the  necessary  papers,  stating  clearly  that  it  is  a  token 
of  regard  for  your  manly  conduct  the  night  of  the  mob, 
I  shall  be  pleased  to  sign  it." 

This  struck  Mr.  Campbell  dumb  for  a  moment.  When 
he  regained  his  presence  of  mind  he  answered,  "~No,  not 
yet;  let's  see  if  we  can't  find  a  better  way.  Why  not 
wait  awhile  and  see  if  some  one  else  as  kind  as  Mr.  Benton 
may  not  take  you  in."  "O,  no,  no,"  said  the  woman,  "it 
was  a  wretched  fate  that  linked  me  to  him.  I  loathe  such 
an  existence,  and  but  for  my  child  I  should  have  destroyed 
myself  years  ago.  I  now  have  nothing  to  keep  me  here." 
Mr.  Campbell  inquired,  "Haven't  you  a  father  or  mother  ?" 
The  sad  woman  answered,  "I  did  have,  but  a  misfortune 
for  which  I  was  not  wholly  responsible  overtook  me 
and  they  abandoned  me  to  the  cruelties  of  this  sin-stained 
world.  They  made  me  believe  that  I  had  fallen  so  low 
that  no  one  above  the  class  I  am  with  would  recognize 
me,  and  I  chose  the  only  path  that  I  thought  was  open 
to  me." 

Inadvertently  the  unfortunate  woman  mentioned  the 
town  where  her  father  lived.  Mr.  Campbell  persuaded 


AND  THE  PIONEER  457 

her  to  put  off  everything  for  a  week  or  ten  days  until 
he  could  look  up  the  law  of  the  matter,  and  then  they 
would  determine  what  was  best.  He  gathered  his  com- 
mercial publications,  selected  a  correspondent  in  the  home 
town  of  this  unfortunate  woman,  gave  her  history  and 
asked  him  to  find  the  father  and  dispatch  him  there  at 
once.  By  return  mail  he  received  a  reply  telling  him  that 
he  had  no  difficulty  in  putting  his  hand  on  the  father, 
a  Methodist  preacher  of  much  distinction  and  of  consid- 
erable wealth,  who  would  depart  the  next  day  for  Lake 
City.  The  father  arrived  on  time  and  Mr.  Campbell 
left  him  in  his  office  and  went  for  his  daughter.  He 
ushered  her  into  the  room  where  her  father  was  seated 
without  any  knowledge  on  her  part  as  to  his  presence.  The 
father  seemed  considerably  affected,  but  the  daughter  ap- 
peared as  cold  as  a  marble  slab  and  as  formal  as  a  nun  with 
him.  He  informed  her  that  through  the  kindness  of  Mr. 
Campbell  he  had  come  to  see  what  he  could  do  for  her.  He 
told  her  that  her  mother  had  recently  died,  that  he 
was  going  abroad  for  two  years  and  that  he  would  be 
delighted  to  take  her  along;  she  would  have  no  cares  and 
could  have  a  complete  rest. 

She  thought  for  a  moment,  then  said  that  after  she  had 
suitably  marked  Mr.  Benton's  grave  she  would  go,  but 
only  on  these  conditions:  That  she  take  the  body  of  her 
child,  that  no  limitation  be  placed  on  her  future  conduct, 
and  that  the  past  be  completely  obliterated. 

"What  do  you  care  about  the  grave  of  that  para- 
mour ?"  inquired  the  stern  old  minister. 

The  daughter  replied,  "His  instincts  were  low,  his 
tastes  were  groveling,  and  his  ambitions  were  unworthy, 
but  my  child  and  I  received  more  tender  kindness  from 
him  than  from  any  other  living  person,  and  he  was  not 


458  THE  PILGRIM 

at  all  responsible  for  our  disgrace  or  our  being  forced  into 
his  class,  and  I  owe  him  praise  rather  than  censure." 

The  tears  boiled  out  of  the  old  man's  eyes  and  he 
quaked  like  one  with  palsy  as  he  answered:  "You  are 
quite  justified  in  remembering  him  and  in  taking  the 
body  of  your  child  with  you,  but  you  do  not  desire  to 
continue  this  disgraceful  life?" 

"No,  no,"  replied  the  daughter,  "I  want  to  draw  a 
dead  line  at  the  death  of  my  child  and  never  shall  I 
look  backward  to  the  somber  landscapes  and  parched  fields 
where  I  have  endured  such  excruciating  miseries.  I  want 
to  go  right  into  the  haunts  of  vice  and  search  out  the 
inmates  that  are  there,  not  from  choice  but  through  cruel 
fate,  and  find  means  for  their  extrication.  1  want  to 
show  the  world  that  there  is  one  woman,  at  least,  willing 
to  extend  a  helping  hand  to  the  fallen  of  her  own  sex. 
I  want  to  teach  the  world  the  inhumanity  of  parents  to- 
ward womankind.  If  a  son,  the  alleged  stronger  of  the 
sexes,  drifts  into  the  quicksands  of  social  ruin,  the  whole 
family  flies  to  his  rescue.  If  the  daughter,  the  weaker 
of  the  sexes,  is  lured  into  sexual  transgression,  by  ecme 
dashing  Lothario,  even  under  the  promise  of  marriage, 
the  whole  family  ruthlessly  pushes  her  into  the  vortex 
of  irretrievable  ruin.  If  the  male  members  of  the  family 
are  without  means  and  without  work,  they  can  tramp 
from  place  to  place,  foraging  on  railroad  and  country  for 
travel  and  living.  If  the  female  is  helplessly  poor  and 
without  available  employment  she  becomes  the  unwilling 
prey  of  the  more  fortunate  of  the  opposite  sex. 

The  stern  minister  felt  the  burden  of  his  guilt  and 
that  it  was  four-fold  greater  than  that  of  his  daughter. 
He  made  every  desired  concession  and  set  about  prepar- 
ations for  their  departure.  The  unfortunate  daughter 


AND  THE  PIONEER  459 

took  Mr.  Campbell  by  the  hand  and  said:  "All  of  this 
is  due  to  your  model  character,  your  great  moral  worth, 
and  I  shall  report  to  you  as  my  master  as  to  the  success 
or  failure  of  my  good  intentions."  With  much  embarrass- 
ment, Mr.  Campbell  replied,  "You  do  not  understand  my 
weakness.  I  am  a  broken  reed,  as  unstable  as  the  moun- 
tain zephyrs.'  I  am  struggling  to  live,  not  myself  but  a 
better  self,  and  will  be  delighted  to  have  you  join  me 
in  this  laudable  undertaking." 

In  a  few  months  Mr.  Campbell  received  a  long  letter 
postmarked  "London."  It  was  from  this  unfortunate 
woman.  She  detailed  her  great  success  in  extricating 
many  of  her  sex,  unwilling  inmates  of  houses  of  vice. 
She  gave  the  number  of  energetic  women  who 
had  joined  her  in  the  great  work,  but  added :  "Be  it  said 
to  the  discredit  of  the  so-called  better  class  of  women, 
not  a  warm  impulse  or  encouraging  word  have  we  received 
from  them.  The  whole  force  have  been  tried  in  the  fire." 
She  closed  by  saying  she  got  all  of  her  inspiration  and 
strength  from  the  spotless  character  and  pure  thoughts 
of  Mr.  Campbell. 

In  the  same  mail  he  received  a  letter  from  Mr.  Wick- 
ham,  giving  the  effects  of  his  work  in  British  Columbia. 
It  delighted  Mr.  Campbell  to  know  how  Wickhamized 
thought  was  spreading  from  these  far  removed  places,  but 
he  realized  that  the  work  was  lagging  at  Lake  City.  He 
had  become  morbid  about  the  perfect  model,  the  other 
self.  The  form  of  Mr.  Wickham  came  up  before  him 
daily  like  a  morning  sun  covered  with  black  spots.  He 
could  see  the  mark  of  Cain  on  his  forehead.  He  could 
see  the  crimson  blood  trickling  through  his  conscience 
from  the  body  of  the  old  hermit  in  that  gruesome  canon. 
He  could  see  the  horseman's  bleaching  bones  eroding  in 


460  THE  PILGRIM 

an  old  abandoned  shaft.  He  fully  realized  that  these 
dark  spots  on  his  sun,  these  blood  stains  on  his  working 
model,  must  be  eradicated  or  -he  would  degenerate  back 
to  the  old  self.  Fortunately  for  Mr.  Campbell,  he  was 
attracted  to  a  notice  in  a  Colorado  Springs  paper  of  an 
organized  party  of  newspaper  men  going  overland  through 
the  North-west.  Mr.  Campbell  wrote  them  of  his  former 
experience  and  proffered  his  services  as  guide  on  condition 
that  they  visit  this  deep,  dark  canon  with  him  and  assist 
him  in  determining  the  fate  of  the  old  horseman.  The 
secretary  immediately  replied,  accepting  his  offer,  and 
telling  him  that  just  such  an  investigation  would  furnish 
the  best  material  for  their  papers. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

"CLEARING  UP  THE  WORKING  MODEL" 

Early  in  September  these  newspaper  men,  with  Mr. 
Campbell  as  guide,  started  over  the  route  formerly 
covered  by  the  Pilgrim  and  the  Pioneer.  Their  experi- 
ence was  very  similar  to  that  of  the  Pilgrim  and  the 
Pioneer  until  about  five  o'clock,  October  10th.  When 
they  were  within  a  few  miles  of  the  unfortunate  camp 
where  the  pack-horse  had  been  lost,  they  were  overtaken 
by  the  most  dirty,  greasy,  matted  and  ringlet-haired,  and 
unkempt-whiskered  individual  that  any  of  them  had  ever 
met.  He  was  dressed  in  a  mouldy,  stringy  buckskin  suit, 
with  a  long  butcher  knife  and  two  six-shooters  stuck  in  a 
wide  leather  belt  around  his  thick  waist,  and  a  Win- 
chester rifle  strapped  to  his  saddle.  He  was  riding  a 
vivacious  sorrel  stallion,  and  leading  a  nimble,  toppy, 
diamond-eyed,  bay  mare,  and  each  of  these  superb  ani- 
mals had  a  blue  ribbon  in  its  brow-band. 

Mr.  Campbell  said,  "Stranger,  you  must  be  in  the 
fine-horse  business,  from  the  splendid  animals  you  have 
there." 

The  horseman  responded,  "Yes,  they  are  'beauts.' 
They  have  just  taken  first  premiums  down  at  the  Mis- 
soula  Fair.  Yes,  I  have  been  chasing  horses  in  Horse 
Thief  Gulch  for  twenty  years,  and  I  reckon  I'll  never 
quit  now,  for  I  don't  know  anything  else." 

One  of  the  newspaper  men  replied,  "One  generally 
sees  those  toe-headed  bronchos  out  here,  and  the  sight 

(461) 


462  THE  PILGRIM 

of  such  horses  as  these  is  quite  a  relief.  They  make  a 
Kentuckian  homesick." 

"Are  you  from  Kentucky?"  inquired  the  horseman. 

"Yes,"  answered  the  correspondent,  "'I  was  raised 
there." 

"Here  too,"  replied  the  horseman,  "I  was  in  college 
four  years  at  -  .  Well;  never  mind,  I'll  get  to  blow- 
ing about  my  pedigree  if  I  get  to  talking  about  'old  Ken- 
tuck7  and  so  I'll  desist  right  here."  But  he  continued, 
"I  didn't  have  much  money  when  I  first  came  out  here, 
and  I  bought  some  of  those  brush-tail  cayuses  that  would 
make  a  saint  lay  aside  his  religion  occasionally,  until  he 
could  express  his  opinion  of  them.  I  used  to  get  me  a 
good  healthy  club  and  hitch  one  up  every  time  I  felt 
right  well  and  thought  I  could  get  through  without  losing 
my  temper  and  shooting  him.  When  I  hitched  one  up  I 
pushed  him  off  right  brisk-like  with  my  club.  He  would 
go  off  crow-hopping  and  looking  back  over  his  shoulder 
at  me,  and  I  could  fairly  see  the  thought  running  through 

his  head,  'Now,  just  how  little  can  I  do  for  that  

scoundrel  without  getting  hit  with  that  club.'  I  always 
took  a  club  because  it  was  the  mildest  treatment  that 
the  stubborn  animal  would  submit  to.  O,  they  are  'onery.' 
I  very  well  remember  the  worst  one  I  ever  had.  I  sold 
him  once,  to  my  sorrow,  but  the  purchaser  soon  persuaded 
me  to  take  him  back.  I  never  was  gladder  than  when  I 
sold  him,  except  when  I  was  given  an  opportunity  to 
take  him  back. 

"I  had  just  built  a  fire  one  morning,  when  a  long, 
lank,  bony-faced  boy  came  galloping  up  and  inquired, 
'Hello,  mister,  have  you  got  a  good,  gentle,  trusty  horse, 
that  you  can  sell  cheap,  and  that  you  can  warrant  is  all 
right  r 


AND  THE  PIONEER  463 

"I  answered,  'Yes,  sir,  I  have  just  what  you  want.' 
I  went  out  to  the  barn  and  threw  a  rope  on  old  'Money 
Musk'  and  led  him  up.  He  was  knotty-headed,  his  eyes 
were  small  and  stuck  away  back  and  high  up,  where  he 
should  have  had  brains,  one  ear  lopped  down  over  his  left 
eye  and  the  other  lay  back  on  his  neck.  The  position  of 
those  ears  would  have  been  enough  for  an  old-timer,  but 
this  tender-foot  thought  them  cute-like. 

"I  pulled  a  leaf  out  of  my  blank  book  and  guaranteed 
that  he  was  mine,  and  that  any  man,  woman,  or  child 
could  saddle  him  with  perfect  safety,  but  I  did  not  say 
that  anyone  could  ride  or  work  him.  Here  is  where 
I  made  my  mistake.  I  have  always  been  sorry  that 
I  did  not  say  that  he  would  buck  any  one's  boot  straps 
off  that  was  fool  enough  to  get  on  him,  but  I  forgot  about 
this  until  after  it  was  too  late. 

"I  sold  the  sleepy  outlaw  for  $25,  took  a  hearty  laugh 
at  the  coming  circus  when  they  should  hitch  him  up. 
I  went  to  the  house  and  got  my  breakfast,  got  my  buckets, 
went  out,  took  off  my  guns  and  knife,  laid  them  against 
the  barn,  smoked  my  pipe,  laughed  again,  and  milked 
the  cow. 

"By  and  by,  I  had  a  mysterious  feeling,  like  some 
enemy  was  slipping  up  on  me,  though  I  had  seen  or  heard 
nothing.  I  whirled  around  toward  my  guns  and  knife,  and 
stuck  my  nose  almost  into  the  muzzle  of  a  Winchester, 
held  by  a  handsome,  determined  old  man,  the  boy's 
father,  I  guess,  who  said,  'You'd  better  make  your  guar- 
antee good,  I  reckon.'  -He  continued,  'You  shell  out  my 
twenty-five  dollars  and  ride  that  horse  or  I'll  pump  a 
pound  of  hot  lead  into  you.' 

"I  replied,  'Hold  on,  now;  let's  talk  about  this.  If 
you  look  at  your  bill  of  sale,  you  will  remember  that  I 


464  THE  PILGRIM 

only  guaranteed  the  horse  to  stand  till  you  could  saddle 
him,  that  he  was  mine,  was  tough,  etc.,  and  I  think  he 
fills  the  bill  to  the  letter.'  The  old  man  showed  no 
disposition  to  see  or  remember  anything,  but  kept  bring- 
ing his  cocked  Winchester  nearer  my  teeth.  I  threw  the 
twenty-five  dollars  at  his  feet  and  said,  'Now,  you  have 
persuaded  me  to  take  the  horse  back,  he  is  mine,  and  if 
I  don't  want  him  broken  to  ride,  I  suppose  that's  nobody 
else's  business.' 

"The  old  man,  with  death  in  his  eyes,  answered: 
'You  throw  your  saddle  on  that  horse  and  ride  him  or  I'll 
make  you  swallow  a  magazine  of  Winchester  bullets.' 

"I  saw  he  was  determined  not  only  to  persuade  me 
against  my  better  judgment  to  take  the  horse  back,  but 
to  make  me  break  my  own  horse  to  ride.  I  saw  from  his 
wrought-up  countenance  that  I  was  in  for  it,  and  it  oc- 
curred to  me  that  I  had  better  try  to  gain  his  admiration 
by  displaying  my  daring  horsemanship,  lest  he  might 
conclude  to  kill  me  after  he  had  made  me  take  the  horse 
back,  ride  and  break  him.  So  I  threw  my  saddle  on  him, 
cinched  it  up,  took  the  horse's  left  ear  between  my  thumb 
and  forefinger  of  my  left  hand  and  placed  the  palm  of 
this  hand  over  his  left  eye.  While  he  was  turning  his 
head  toward  me  to  see  what  I  was  going  to  do  to  him,  I 
slipped  my  right  leg  over  his  back,  caught  the  right  stirrup, 
then  loosed  his  ear  and  gave  him  his  vision.  It  took 
the  broncho  several  seconds  to  recover  his  presence  of 
mind,  but  as  soon  as  he  did  he  began  to  quiver,  elevate 
his  back,  and  place  his  head  between  his  front  legs.  When 
he  got  good  and  ready  he  began  to  squeal,  squirm  to  the 
right  and  left,  pitch  forward,  then  dart  backward,  first 
to  one  side  then  the  other,  pitching  and  bucking,  swelling 
and  foaming  at  the  mouth.  The  old  man  kept  right  up 


AND  THE  PIONEER  465 

to  us  with  the  muzzle  of  his  gun  in  my  face,  but  the 
dark  cloud  on  his  brow  had  scattered  and  he  was  now 
chuckling.  In  time  the  broncho's  strength  was  completely 
exhausted,  and  so  was  mine.  He  tried  to  give  up  the 
contest  and  I  was  mighty  thankful,  but  thought  I  would 
make  the  old  man  think  I  really  enjoyed  such  exercise. 
So  I  gave  the  exhausted  broncho  a  vicious  jerk  and  plowed 
the  spurs  into  his  flanks.  The  poor  fellow  could  not  buck 
any  more,  and  discouraged,  he  reared  up  and  fell  sprawl- 
ing on  his  back,  caught  my  left  leg  under  him,  closed 
his  eyes  and  lay  as  still  as  death.  I  closed  my  eyes  and 
played  dead,  too,  though  my  leg  was  in  the  crease  next 
to  the  broncho's  shoulder  and  did  not  hurt  me  at  all. 

"The  old  man  deliberately  walked  up  and  looked 
us  over,  then  placed  the  cold  muzzle  of  his  cocked  Win- 
chester on  my  temple  and  with  it  rocked  my  head  back- 
ward and  forward.  Then  with  a  tinge  of  pity  in  his  voice, 

he  exclaimed,  'My ,  I  believe  they  are  both  dead.' 

He  dropped  to  his  knees,  felt  of  my  pulse,  then  put  his 
ear  to  my  chest,  saying,  'It  is  beating,  but  is  very  weak.' 
He  put  his  gun  back  on  my  head  and  said,  'Poor  fellow, 
I  only  intended  to  teach  you  a  lesson  that  would  benefit 
you  as  long  as  you  lived,  and  would  forever  hereafter 
protect  the  public  from  your  fraudulent  machinations,  but 
I  did  not  intend  to  give  you  so  serious  a  blow  as  this.' 

"I  saw  now  that  he  did  not  intend  to  kill  me,  but  to 
administer  such  a  wholesome  lesson  as  would  forever 
deter  me  from  taking  short  cuts  on  tender-feet  in  horse 
trades,  and  I  felt  perfectly  safe  in  beginning  to  breathe 
again.  I  distorted  my  face  and  writhed  with  apparent 
pain,  and  frothed  at  the  mouth  like  a  dog  with  hydro- 
phobia. 

"The  old  man  took  the  horse  by  the  ears  and  tried 

THE  PILGRIM.— 30. 


PERSUADING  HIM  TO  BREAK  His  OWN  HORSE. 


AND   THE  PIONEER  467 

to  pull  him  off  me,  and  said,  l •  you,  you  ought  to  be 

killed,  and  I  guess  you  are  dead  all  right.  Your  cussed- 
ness  has  caused  all  this  trouble,  and  has  probably  caused 
this  man's  death.' 

"He  stepped  back  to  the  barn  to  get  a  pole  to  pry 
the  horse  off  me,  and  while  his  back  was  turned,  I  drew 
up  my  right  leg  so  that  the  rowell  of  the  spur  rolled  right 
over  the  most  ticklish  part  on  the  broncho's  flank.  He 
sprang  to  his  feet,  humped  his  back  and  squealed  like 
a  pig.  He  swelled  up  and  bucked  and  bucked,  trying  to 
relieve  himself  of  the  saddle. 

"The  old  man  returned  and  again  put  the  cold 
muzzle  of  his  Winchester  against  my  head  and  rocked  my 
head  backward  and  forward,  and  said,  'Poor  fellow,  it 
is  too  bad  to  administer  such  a  punishment  as  this,  even 
if  you  do  not  die  from  it,  all  on  account  of  that  onery 
broncho.  It  would  be  too  bad  if  he  should  live,  and  you 
should  die.' 

"I  lay  perfectly  still,  just  breathing  occasionally,  as 
I  wanted  the  old  man  to  state  his  intentions  clearly.  It 
occurred  to  me  that  I  should  play  my  trump  card,  and  I 
distorted  my  face,  frothed  at  the  mouth  and  mumbled 
out  the  word  'mother.'  The  tears  just  streamed  out  of 
that  old  man's  eyes,  right  into  my  face.  How  I  did  want 
to  laugh,  but  my  condition  was  a  little  too  precarious 
to  make  any  light  experiments. 

"The  old  man  brought  up  his  horse,  tied  one  end  of 
his  lasso  to  an  old  sled,  the  other  to  the  horn  of  his 
saddle,  and  made  his  horse  pull  it  up  to  my  side.  He  then 
rolled  me  onto  the  sled  and  made  his  horse  pull  me  up 
to  the  door  of  the  cabin,  then  he  gently  dragged  me  into 
the  house  and  onto  the  bed,  tenderly  covered  me  up  and 
bathed  my  temples  with  cold  water. 


468  THE  PILGRIM 

"I  closed  my  eyes  and  gasped  as  though  I  was  about 
gone.  The  old  man  went  to  the  wood-box,  picked  up  a 
hatchet,  and  started  toward  my  bed.  It  forcibly  occurred 
to  me  that  he  had  concluded  that  I  must  die  any  way  and 
it  might  get  him  into  trouble,  so  he  would  just  knock 
me  in  the  head  and  throw  me  into  one  of  the  abandoned 
mining  shafts  around  there  and  be  done  with  me. 

"I  abruptly  changed  my  policy,  and  mumbled  out  the 
word  'water.'  He  brought  me  a  cup  of  water,  and  I 
drank  it  and  looked  around  the  room,  and  asked,  'What 
does  this  all  mean,  and  what  am  I  doing  here  in  bed?' 

"He  gave  me  a  contemptuous  look,  dropped  the 
hatchet,  mounted  his  horse  and  trotted  off  up  the  trail, 
and  has  not  been  seen  around  here  since. 

"I  got  up  and  tried  to  walk  around,  but  I  had  been 
studying  the  nature  of  that  old  man  so  intensely  that  I 
was  entirely  exhausted.  The  cramming  system  in  the 
public  schools  may  be  a  deplorable  thing,  but  it  is  pleas- 
ant pastime  compared  with  my  determination  to  cram 
the  whole  nature  of  that  man  into  my  mind  in  one  short 
half -hour.  However,  this  strenuous  half -hour  so  impressed 
me  with  the  danger  of  misrepresentation  in  a  horse  trade, 
that  I  am  almost  afraid  to  tell  the  whole  truth  about 
anything." 

Mr.  Campbell  saw  it  all  now,  and  the  Pioneer  was 
re-established  in  his  esteem  and  confidence. 

The  broncho  dealer  continued,  "In  a  few  days  every- 
thing was  about  as  usual  and  a  big,  strapping,  nice-looking 
fellow  came  along  and  wanted  to  buy  a  gontle  old  pony 
that  any  child  could  ride.  'All  right,'  I  said,  'I'll  sell 
him  to  you  for  fifty  dollars.'  He  told  me  to  'bring  him 
out.'  I  caught  him  and  led  him  up  to  the  cabin.  The 
fellow  called  for  some  paper  and  he  then  wroto  out  a 


AND  THE  PIONEER  469 

long  bill  of  sale  and  a  guarantee  of  my  ownership,  his 
soundness,  gentle  qualities,  etc.,  and  pa^cd  it  over  to 
me  to  sign. 

"I  replied,  'Now,  look  a-here,  partner;  in  this  coun- 
try where  we  are  not  bothered  with  courts  or  lawyers,  I 
have  known  men  to  get  into  serious  trouble  over  these 
guarantees,  and  have  occasionally  known  them  to  be  com- 
pelled to  make  them  good  according  to  the  spirit  in  the 
way  the  purchaser  understood  them,  when  no  words  would 
justify  such  a  construction,  and  I  swore  that  I  would 
never  give  a  guarantee  of  one  of  these  bronchos,  and  that 
purchasers  would  have  to  take  them  for  better  or  worse, 
or  not  take  them  at  all,  and  now  I  guarantee  nothing.' 

"He  got  upon  his  horse  and  rode  away,  and  somehow 
I  could  not  sell  any  more  of  them  because  I  could  not 
guarantee  them.  I  got  disgusted-like  and  traded  the  whole 
herd  off  for  a  dozen  of  these  sixteen-hundred-pound  Nor- 
mans. I  was  willing  to  guarantee  them.  After  waiting 
a  long  time,  a  fellow  came  along  and  said,  'What's  that 
big  grey  horse  worth  ?'  I  replied,  'A  hundred  and  a  half.' 
He  inquired,  'Isn't  that  an  awful  price  for  a  horse?' 
I  answered,  'Yes,  that  is  considerable  money,  but  just 
look  at  the  size  of  him,  besides  I  shall  guarantee  him.' 
The  fellow  said,  'Every  darned  thing  you  could  say  in 
a  guaranty  would  be.  Just  look  at  the  size  of  him.' 

"When  I  came  to  consider  it,  I  really  couldn't  think 
of  a  single  point  I  could  make  for  him,  further  than  this, 
and  I  said  to  myself,  'I  never  can  improve  as  a  horse- 
trader  on  a  horse  about  which  all  I  can  say  is  'Just  look 
at  the  size  of  him.'  So  I  traded  them  all  off  for  a 
bunch  of  Messengers,  and  now  I  can  just  talk  a  leg  off 
anybody  wanting  to  buy  a  horse. 

"I  am  kinder  glad  I  owned  the  bronchos  and  Nor- 


470  THE  PILGRIM 

mans,  bad  luck  as  I  have  had  with  them,  and  especially 
with  the  bronchos.  Knowing  their  poor  qualities  enables 
me  to  lead  up  to  the  grander  qualities  of  the  Messenger. 

"I  say,  the  broncho  might  be  likened  to  the  watery 
and  curly  elms  among  woods,  too  tough  to  handle  profit- 
ably, or  to  the  cast-iron  among  the  metals,  too  snappy  and 
brash  to  trust  on  important  occasions.  The  Normans  are 
something  like  the  great,  soft,  spongy  mountain  chestnut 
among  woods,  or  the  wrought  iron  among  metals;  most 
easily  handled,  can  be  bent  to  your  liking  in  most  ordinary 
uses,  but  are  not  persistent  enough  to  endure  anything 
beyond  the  ordinary. strain;  but  the  noble  Messenger  may 
be  compared  to  the  smooth,  fine-grained,  elastic  white 
hickory,  or  the  variegated,  tough,  polished  quartered  oak, 
or  the  glistening,  springy,  and  everlasting  steel  that  so 
completely  fills  the  ideals  of  the  inventor  and  artisan. 
Hello,  there  is  Horsethief  Trail,  and  I  must  leave  you, 
just  as  I  am  growing  really  eloquent  in  laying  my  prem- 
ises to  present  some  of  the  superb  qualities  of  the  im- 
perial Messenger.  Good  day." 

Mr.  Campbell  inquired,  "May  we  have  the  pleasure 
of  knowing  your  name  before  you  leave  us  ?" 

The  old  man  answered,  "I  haven't  seen  any  one 
I  knew  in  my  youth  in  so  long  that  I  have  about  for- 
gotten what  they  used  to  call  me.  Out  here  I  am  known 
as  Buteherknife  Hank,  and  we  will  just  let  it  go  at  that," 
and  he  turned  into  the  dark  Horsethief  canon,  out  of 
view. 

This  very  intelligent  and  well  educated  man,  had  in 
his  young  manhood  consigned  himself  to  a  life  of  filth 
and  a  hermitage  in  this  gruesome  canon,  probably  because 
of  some  criminal  act  which  would  not  permit  of  general 
knowledge  of  his  whereabouts,  without  danger  to  his  lib- 


AND  THE  PIONEER  471 

erty.  So  many  blighted  lives  are  seen  finishing  up  their 
days  in  putrid  filth,  with  wild  beasts  in  the  dark  canons 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  that  it  is  no  longer  a  matter 
that  excites  any  particular  attention. 

After  clearing  up  the  working  model,  Mr.  Campbell 
related  to  the  pressmen  the  story  of  the  Pioneer  wedding 
and  the  exciting  honey-moon,  and  informed  them  of  his 
desire  to  visit  John  Farley  and  his  "woman,"  and  to 
learn  the  result  of  their  unique  marriage. 

The  newspaper  men  all  agreed  to  make  the  visit, 
and  before  noon  they  were  knocking  at  the  door  of  John's 
peeled-log  cabin.  John  Farley  approached  the  door  with 
heavy,  halting  steps,  followed  by  a  huge  boarhound.  He 
wore  a  greasy,  stringy  buckskin  suit  of  the  same  pattern 
as  when  Mr.  Campbell  first  saw  him,  but  his  wealth  of 
white,  bushy,  unkept  whiskers  and  his  mass  of  white, 
matted  hair,  and  his  form  prematurely  bent  by  his  great 
burden,  concealed  his  identity  from  Mr.  Campbell.  One 
of  the  visitors  inquired,  "Can  you  inform  us  where  we 
may  find  John  Farley  ?" 

The  old  man,  with  a  trembling  hand,  pointed  to- 
ward the  stars,  and  answered,  "John  Farley  has  gone 
thither."  He  then  struck  himself  on  the  breast,  saying, 
"This  is  the  old  hulk  in  which  he  formerly  lived." 

Mr.  Campbell  grasped  the  old  man's  unsteady  hand, 
and  suggested  to  him,  "My  name  is  Campbell,  John  Camp- 
bell. I  witnessed  your  happy  wedding  at  Missoula  a  quar- 
ter of  a  century  ago.  Where  and  how  is  your  'woman  ?' ' 
John  Farley  dropped  heavily  to  a  wooden  bench,  a  pite- 
ous groan  escaped  his  pale  lips,  he  grasped  his  temples 
and  streams  of  hot  tears  boiled  from  his  eyes  for  a  few 
moments,  then  he  pointed  them  to  a  paled-in  knoll  a  few 
yards  from  the  cabin,  containing  two  long  graves,  and 


472  THE  PILGRIM 

between  them  a  very  short  one.  Substantial  granite  slabs 
were  set  at  the  head  of  each  grave,  and  each  slab  was 
marked,  beginning  from  the  left,  "John's  Woman," 
"John's  Baby,"  "John's  Faithful  Hired  Man."  Wooden 
vases  filled  with  fresh  water  and  columbines  stood  on  each 
grave.  At  one  side  of  the  grave  stood  a  great  rustic  arm 
chair,  with  a  high  cushioned  board  in  front  like  an  in- 
fant's chair,  so  that  the  occupant  could  fasten  himself  in 
and  rest  himself  on  the  cushioned  board.  The  packed 
ground  showed  that  the  old  man  spent  much  time  on  the 
paled  knoll. 

The  newspaper  men  gathered  some  mint  along  the 
spring  branch,  got  some  fresh  water  and  whisky,  made 
the  old  man  a  strong  toddy,  had  the  cook  fix  him  a  dainty 
dinner,  gave  him  a  highly  flavored  cigar,  then  Mr.  Camp- 
bell began,  by  easy  gradations,  plying  questions  tending 
to  elicit  the  fate  of  John's  "woman."  It  was  as  hard  to 
get  him  straightened  out  as  to  get  a  bloodhound  to  take 
the  trail  of  a  criminal,  but  when  he  started  he  went  to 
the  end  without  a  break. 

John  Farley  informed  them  that  after  his  "woman" 
had  been  here  about  a  year,  and  before  she  liked  the 
West,  she  was  about  to  become  a  mother,  and  she  thought 
that  she  would  die  if  left  here  in  her  trial  and  cried  to 
go  home  for  the  ordeal.  The  old  man  shook  his  head 
and  continued,  "I  couldn't  bear  to  have  her  go.  I  felt 
that  after  all  of  us  and  everything  on  the  Hill  had  learned 
to  love  her  so,  we  could  not  live  without  her  so  long.  I 
was  afraid  they  would  not  take  good  care  of  her  there 
where  they  have  so  many  other  women,  as  we  would  on 
the  Hill  where  she  was  the  only  woman.  I  persuaded  her 
to  go  with  me  into  the  valley  to  Dr.  Weston's  office,  thirty 
miles  from  the  Hill,  to  arrange  with  him  to  attend  her, 


AND  THE  PIONEER  473 

and  to  get  cloth,  to  make  apparel  for  the  expected  stranger. 
We  stopped  at  a  half-way  house  and  arranged  for  a  change 
of  horses  for  the  man  when  sent  for  the  doctor  and  a 
change  for  the  doctor  on  his  way  to  the  pole  cabin.  We 
met  Dr.  Weston,  and  he  agreed  to  be  there  in  two  hours 
after  notified.  We  went  to  the  store  to  get  the  material 
for  the  clothes,  and  my  woman  wept,  and  said  that  it 
was  not  worth  while  as  she  knew  that  something  would 
happen.  So  she  bought  two  ready-made  suits  of  little, 
long  clothes,  and  said  that  she  felt  it  a  waste  of  money. 
We  returned  home,  and  at  the  first  appearance  of  trouble, 
I  mounted  Simson  on  Tawney,  the  noblest  horse  of  them 
all,  gave  him  ten  dollars  and  asked  him  to  have  the  doctor 
here  in  four  hours,  if  I  had  to  pay  for  four  dead  horses. 
The  tears  trickled  down  the  faithful  hired  man's  cheek, 
as  he  replied,  'He  shall  be  in  on  time  if  a  dead  man 
has  to  be  thrown  in.'  The  hired  man  cantered  off  toward 
the  valley,  and  I  returned  to  the  house  to  watch  develop- 
ments. 

"Four  hours  passed  and  no  doctor  in  sight,  and  my 
woman  getting  worse  every  minute.  I  blew  my  distress 
horn,  and  all  the  men  on  the  Hill  immediately  appeared.  I 
laid  the  situation  before  them  and  we  determined  to  put  out 
a  sentinel  with  a  red  flag,  on  the  big  hill  below,  where 
he  could  view  the  road  for  four  miles,  with  orders  to  sig- 
nal us  the  approach  of  the  doctor  that  we  might  encour- 
age my  'woman'  to  bear  up  under  her  suffering  until  he 
arrived.  Eight  hours,  ten  hours,  twenty-four  hours  passed 
and  no  doctor  in  sight  and  my  'woman'  losing  conscious- 
ness. We  held  another  conference  and  decided  to  mount 
two  more  men  on  fleet  horses  and  send  them  to  meet 
the  doctor,  then  have  the  one  on  the  fleetest  horse  come 
on  in  advance  and  relieve  the  distressing  suspense.  The 


474  ,  THE  PILGRIM 

men  were  started  immediately.  In  half  an  hour  we  saw 
one  of  the  men  returning  on  a  dead  run.  We  all  gathered 
in  the  yard,  threw  our  hats  in  the  air  and  sent  up  shout 
after  shout  for  joy.  As  the  man  rolled  from  his  horse, 
we  grasped  him  in  our  arms,  hugged  him,  and  exclaimed, 
'Tell  us,  tell  us  quick,  how  far  back  is  the  doctor?' 

"The  man  burst  into  a  flood  of  tears  and  broke  away 
from  us.  He  was  dumb,  speechless.  Every  one  clamored 
and  prayed  for  some  information  to  break  the  painful 
suspense.  When  the  man  became  composed  a  little  he 
informed  us  that  four  miles  below  they  had  found  Sim- 
son,  Tawney,  and  the  shepherd  dog  pressed  in  against 
the  cliff  by  a  huge  snow  slide,  and  all  cold  in  death,  and 
that  the  doctor  had  never  been  notified.  This  nearly 
paralyzed  every  one  present.  We  held  a  hurried  con- 
ference and  decided  that  the  only  ray  of  hope  left  was 
to  take  the  child  from  her  as  best  we  could.  We  brought 
the  little  stranger  to  light  with  dispatch,  but  he  never 
saw  the  light,  he  was  dead.  We  washed  his  little  body, 
put  one  of  the  little,  long  suits  on  him,  and  tenderly  laid 
him  in  a  little  cradle."  The  old  man  pushed  open  a  little 
door  leading  into  a  pole  annex,  pointed  to  the  wall,  and 
said,  "There  is  the  other  little  suit." 

The  little  peeled-pole  annex  had  been  built  and  dedi- 
cated by  John  'Farley  to  the  belongings  of  his  woman 
and  his  boy.  It  was,  indeed,  a  veritable  curiosity  shop. 
Everything  was  immaculately  clean.  Their  things  were 
most  carefully  and  touchingly  arranged.  Potted  silver- 
tipped  spruce  and  mountain  evergreens  were  growing  in 
the  corners.  The  little  cradle,  the  woman's  arm-chair, 
were  ornamented  with  mountain  ferns.  This  was  verily 
sacred  ground.,  But  lest  the  opening  of  this  scene  should 
disturb  the  old  man's  mind,  Mr.  Campbell  abruptly  in- 


GRAVE-YARD  SCENE. 


AND  THE  PIONEER  477 

quired,  "What  was  the  fate  of  your  'woman  f  '  "Well/' 
the  old  man  answered,  "after  we  put  my  baby  into  his 
little  cradle,  I  fell  into  a  long,  deep  sleep,  and  when  I 
awoke  they  were  all  buried  on  the  knoll,  the  graves  marked, 
and  the  ground  paled-in,  just  as  it  is  now." 

Mr.  Campbell  suggested  to  Mr.  Farley  that  he  must 
go  with  them  to  Spokane  Falls,  and  that  they  would  have 
him  taken  care  of.  He  insisted  that  it  would  not  do 
for  so  old  a  man  to  stay  there  any  longer  alone. 

The  old  man's  hair  fairly  stood  on  end.  He  sharply 
retorted,  "I  leave  here?  I  leave  my  'woman'  and  baby 
without  company  or  protection  ?  I  abandon  them  ?  Who 
would  sprinkle  their  graves?  Who  would  gather  them 
flowers?  Who  would  be  company  for  them  if  I  went 
away?  I  alone?  I  have  my  woman  and  my  baby  with 
me.  We  never  were  so  happy.  She  is  just  beginning 
to  like  this  Western  life.  Excuse  me,  you  have  so  highly 
entertained  me  that  I  have  neglected  my  'woman'  and 
baby."  The  old  man  impatiently  sprang  to  his  feet,  stood 
erect,  and  with  an  elastic  step  ascended  the  knoll  and 
fastened  himself  in  his  chair.  The  boarhound  stood  at 
the  head  of  the  graves  watching  him.  The  light  began 
to  blaze  in  the  old  man's  face  and  a  wreath  of  smiles  played 
about  his  mouth,  as  he  began  a  spirited  conversation  with 
the  dead.  He  made  the  voice  of  his  -woman  coming  from 
the  grave  the  fac-simile  of  her  voice  when  living.  If  it 
could  be  imagined  that  such  an  infant  could  talk,  then 
the  voice  that  the  father  assumed  was  the  one  that  the 
child  would  use.  If  a  blind  person  had  come  on  the  scene 
he  would  have,  concluded  that  the  father,  mother,  and 
infant  were  having  a  most  pleasant  colloquy.  In  his  long 
practices  in  these  seances,  he  had  become  so  accomplished 
a  ventriloquist  that  he  had  the  voice  of  his  "woman" 


478  THE  PILGRIM 

and  baby  located  so  accurately  over  their  sealed  lips  in 
their  graves,  that  the  excited  boarhound,  with  every  hair 
and  ear  standing  out  straight,  several  times  raised  his 
paw  and  put  it  right  over  the  mouths  of  the  dead,  deter- 
mined to  dig  them  from  the  damp,  deep  vaults,  but  his 
master  frowned  and  motioned  him  to  desist.  After  a 
short,  excited  conversation  and  much  laughter,  in  which 
it  appeared  that  the  father,  mother,  and  child  equally 
participated,  the  old  man  fell  over  on  his  cushioned 
board,  exhausted,  and  a  dark,  grayish  pallor  crept  over 
his  face  and  drove  away  the  red  glow  and  joyful  smile. 
The  boarhound  put  his  paw  down  time  and  again  on  the 
very  spot  where  the  old  man  had  located  the  voices  of  the 
woman  and  child,  and  seemed  distressed  that  he  could 
not  exhume  them.  The  hound  soon  gave  up,  and  with  a 
solemn,  cat-like  tread,  moved  to  one  side,  stretched 
out  on  the  ground  and  closed  his  eyes.  There  was  not 
now  a  rasping  sound  of  a  cricket,  the  chirp  of  a  bird,  or 
rustle  of  a  leaf  on  Farley  Hill.  The  sad  visitors  silently 
viewed  the  death-like  tableau  for  a  moment  without  ex- 
changing a  word,  then  pressed  on  down  the  Coenr 
d'Alene  River  to  Coeur  d'Alene  Lake  and  across  it  into 
Spokane  Falls. 


CHAPTEK    XXXV. 

FROM  TRAPPER  AND  PIONEER  TO  SETTLED 
CONDITIONS. 

One  morning  Mr.  Wiekham  arose  tired  and  sick  and 
exclaimed,  "God  forbid  that  I  ever  again  try  to  do  busi- 
ness burdened  with  the  ponderous  ways  of  a  government 
so  far  from  the  people  as  this  one  is.  I  am  now  approach- 
ing three  score  and  ten  years  and  long  to  get  back  to  the 
pure  democracy  of  Colorado,  where  every  man,  woman 
and  child  is  an  entity,  where  flesh  and  blood,  the  heart, 
the  high  moral  character  rather  than  the  accumulations 
or  the  pedigree  make  the  man." 

Yes,  that  will  do  to  tell,  but  the  real  reason  was  that 
mysterious  power  that  ever  impels  a  criminal  to  return 
to  the  scene  of  his  transgressions  with  approaching  old  age. 

He  bought  his  ticket  to  Denver  and  wired  Mr.  Camp- 
bell to  meet  him  on  the  way. 

The  meeting  of  the  Pilgrim  and  the  Pioneer  was  a 
curious  mixture  of  pain  and  pleasure.  Mi1.  Wicklunn  was 
overjoyed  upon  observing  that  Mr.  Campbell  had  passed 
from  the  ungainly,  awkward,  and  green  boyhood  state,  to 
that  of  a  mature,  conservative,  and  sedate  middle-aged 
man. 

Mr.  Wiekham  went  into  ecstacy  over  the  deferential 
greetings  extended  to  this  Pilgrim  by  the  trainmen  and 
passengers,  and  was  especially  proud  of  the  titles  used  in 
addressing  him,  indicating  that  he  had  been  trusted  with 
;i  number  of  honorable  official  positions. 

Mr.  Wiekham  surmised  thafchis  always  interested  and 
often  somewhat  severe  tutelage,  in  the  seasoning  process 

(479) 


480  THE  PILGRIM 

when  his  friend  first  appeared  as  a  stranger  in  a  strange 
land,  might  have  contributed  to  this  happy  fruitage. 

Mr.  Campbell  was  pathetically  sad,  when  he  observed 
that  Mr.  Wickham  had  passed  the  cheerful,  warm  meri- 
dian of  supple,  vigorous  manhood,  well  into  that  stiff, 
shaded,  and  frosty  zone,  awaiting  all  who  reach  the  three- 
quarter  century  parallel.  It  was  indeed  painful  to  observe 
the  deep  furrows  in  his  face,  the  rounded,  stooped  shoul- 
ders, the  lifeless,  bleached  hair,  which  so  plainly  bespoke 
the  grinding  ravages  of  merciless  Time.  Both  had  been 
fairly  prosperous;  a  just  cause  for  common  joy.  It  was 
six  o'clock  in  the  morning  that  Mr.  Campbell  met  the  old 
Pioneer  at  Grand  Junction  with  a  cab,  and  after  a  hurried 
breakfast,  drove  him  to  Orchard  Mesa,  to  the  fruit  drying 
and  packing  house  and  to  the  sugar  factory.  He  was 
carried  beyond  himself.  He  said,  "Those  trains  of  coal 
I  expected,  but  these  sprightly  orchards,  these  luscious 
fruits,  these  sugar-beets,  are  the  figment  of  a  wild  dream. 
This  is  a  California  scene,  but  it  does  look  so  natural. " 


GLENWOOD  SPRINGS  AND  BATH  HOUSE. 


AND  THE  PIONEER  481 

Mr.  Campbell  informed  the  old  Pioneer  that  only 
ninety  miles  south  was  Glenwood  Springs,  with  its  acres 
of  cemented  bathing-pools,  grassy  and  shaded  parks,  and 
the  matchless  Colorado  Hotel,  equipped  with  broad  veran- 
das and  cheerful  fountains,  snugly  nestled  in  Gleenwood 
Park  and  overlooked  by  towering  peaks.  It  was  situated  on 
Grand  River  and  on  the  main  lines  of  the  D.  &  R.  G.  and 
Midland  Railroads,  and  was  attracting  tourists  from  all 
parts  of  the  globe. 

The  old  Pioneer  hung  his  head  and  meekly  replied, 
"What  a  sweet  delusion;  what  a  fantastic  dream!" 

At  9  :45  A.  M.  the  Pilgrim  and  the  Pioneer  drove 
to  the  Narrow  Gauge,  boarded  the  train,  and  were  soon 
whistled  into  Delta.  The  brakeman  informed  them  that 
it  would  take  half  an  hour  to  load  the  fruit  in  the  express 
car.  They  got  out,  visited  the  Association  building,  the 
canning  factory  and  the  cars  which  men  were  loading 
with  melons,  tomatoes,  and  all  kinds  of  fruits.  They  were 
told  that  the  day  before  a  hundred  big  wagons  loaded 
with  peaches  had  come  down  from  Surface  Creek  and  the 
North  Fork,  and  that  two  railroads  were  surveying  up 
there  to  get  to  the  coal-beds.  The  old  man  said,  "The 
coal  story  is  so  natural,  but  the  remainder  of  the  scene 
is  in  California.'7 

The  conductor  soon  cried  out,  "All  aboard!" 
and  the  Pilgrim  and  the  Pioneer  took  their  seats 
on  the  side  next  to  the  river.  Mr.  Wickham  gazed 
constantly  at  the  ribbon  of  cultivated  green  until  the 
conduct&r  cried  out,"Montrose !  twenty  minutes  for  din- 
ner." The  old  Pioneer  said,  "Here  is  a  Nile  Scene.  Saw- 
Tooth,  Uncompahgre,  and  surrounding  peaks  make  the 
pyramids,  Montrose  is  Thebes,  and  Delta  is  Alexandria." 
The  conductor  interrupted  by  announcing,  "A  small  culvert 


482  THE  PILGRIM 

has  burnt  just  ahead  of  us  and  it  will  require  probably 
two  hours  to  build  around  it.  The  engine  will  whistle 
three  times,  ten  minutes  before  we  start." 

A  friend  of  Mr.  Campbell  appeared  with  a  double 
rig  and  drove  the  Pilgrim  and  the  Pioneer  out  to  the  Ash- 
enfelder  orchard  of  two  hundred  acres.  A  regular  school 
of  girls  were  packing  peaches,  plums,  nectarines,  grapes, 
pears,  etc.,  and  many  were  drying  Italian  prunes.  The 
old  man  said,  "A  perfect  California  scene.  How  unfortu- 
nate that  this  can't  be  real.  How  natural  the  features  of 
Mr.  Campbell,  and  how  familiar  the  voice.  This  fantastic 
scene  is  the  precursor  of  a  horrible  nightmare.  I  haven't 
started  to  Colorado  yet, — but  how  vivid  and  natural.  Oh, 
that  I  could  awake  now  without  having  this  fairy  scene 
blurred,  and  write  him.  But  what  is  the  use  ?  Such  scenes 
are  impossible  in  that  waste  desert  The  picture  would  be 
so  far-fetched  that  it  would  not  even  interest  him." 

They  were  driven  back  to  the  Fruit  Association  ware- 
house. A  number  of  men  from  Texas  were  loading 
potatoes  for  the  southern  market  Men  from  Minnesota 
and  Iowa  were  loading  peaches  for  the  north-western 
market;  men  from  Chicago  were  loading  pears  for  the 
Windy  City ;  five  or  six  cars  of  the  purest  arid  most  delic- 
ious honey  were  being  loaded  for  St.  Louis,  and  numerous 
teams  were  passing  with  coal  from  the  close-by  hills.  The 
old  Pioneer  pointed  to  the  co-al  wagons  and  said,  "There 
is  the  only  part  of  the  scene  which  belongs  to  Colorado. 
Oh,  if  these  other  imaginary  industries  could  only  be 
added  to  the  monotonous  mining  and  stock  business  of 
this  parched  land,  what  a  boon  it  would  be  to  that  part  of 
mankind  who  are  compelled  to  live  here  or  not  at  all." 

The  three  whistles  blew  and  the  Pilgrim  and  the 
Pioner  hoarded  the  train. 


AND  THE  PIONEER  483 

When  they  approached  Gunnison  they  saw  train  after 
train  on  the  side  tracks  loaded  with  coal  and  coke.  "Here 
is  a  Colorado  scene,"  said  Mr.  Wickham.  "This  is  as 
I  expected.  This  inclines  me  to  believe  these  scenes  are 
not  purely  fantastic." 

They  changed  cars  at  Mears  and  went  through  the 
San  Luis  Valley.  They  saw  waving  wheat  and  oat  fields 
as  far  as  the  vision  could  reach,  grain,  grain,  level  and 
waving  like  a  great  ocean,  with  an  occasional  field  of  peas 
and  potatoes.  They  stopped  at ,  a  milling  and  ele- 
vator station,  where  about  7,500  bushels  of  most  excellent 
wheat  were  taken  in  daily.  The  old  Pioneer  was  led  to 
a  high  look-out  and  around  Center  he  counted  the  curling 
smoke  from  twenty  steam  threshers.  The  elevator  men 
told  them  that  water  was  scarce  and  they  expected  a  short 
yield,  probably  only  a  million  and  a  quarter  bushels. 

The  old  Pioneer  rubbed  his  head  and  said,  "This 
is  a  Dakota  scene.  I  know  it  is  not  Colorado,  because 
when  I  left  here  they  could  not  grow  a  good  milling  wheat 
This  dry  bed  is  not  the  Rio  Grande.  It  was  a  great  river 
filled  with  fish  and  covered  with  fowls.  There  is  not 
enough  water  here  to  hide  a  fish  or  float  a  duck.  This  is 
but  an  erratic  dream  that  beats  imagery  of  Fauntleroy. 
Parts  of  it  are  so  natural.  I  do  wish  I  could  awake  and 
write  it  up  before  some  horrible  nightmare  blurs  it" 

In  the  autumn  of  1900,  after  an  absence  of  twenty- 
six  years,  Mr.  Wickham  and  Mr.  Campbell  were  ushered 
into  a  splendid  stone  depot  in  the  city  of  Denver,  just 
after  the  electric  lights  had  been  turned  on  in  the  evening. 
What  an  improvement  on  the  little  tumble-down  brick 
structure  from  which  Mr.  Campbell  boarded  the  D.  &  R. 
G.  train  in  1874  when  taking  his  departure  for  the  San 
Juan  and  farther,  west. 


484  THE  PILGRIM 

There  was  in  1874  a  stem  of  the  D.  &  E.  G.  narrow- 
gauge  railroad,,  with  its  roots  firmly  fixed  in  the  heart  of 
Denver.  It  really  looked  like  a  toy  or  plaything  when 
contrasted  with  the  standard-gauge  roads.  But  since  then 
the  little  giant,  fertilized  by  a  healthy  commerce  and  a 
plenteous  travel,  has  gradually  crept  through  gorge  and 
over  mountain  passes  until  it  has  reached  the  Utah  line, 
and  a  branch  has  been  budded  on  at  every  canon  or  water- 
course leading  out  to  a  mining-camp,  grazing  park,  or 
other  desirable  point,  until  it  now  has  a  system  of  1,500 
miles  of  the  most  expensive  and  best  equipped  line  of  the 
kind  and  extent  in  the  world,  and  when  spread  out  on  a 
map,  looks  like  a  great  tree  with  a  wealth  of  branches. 
It  also  enjoys  the  distinction  of  having  the  best-paid  rail- 
road employes  for  a  system  so  extensive,  in  the  world, 
and  the  management  has  ever  been  so  vigorous  and 
efficient  that  competition  has  made  but  little  impression  on 
its  business. 

Mr.  Campbell  inquired  of  the  information  bureau 
about  the  Planter's  Hotel,  whether  Captain  Lambert  was 
still  operating  it,  and  as  to  the  best  means  of  reaching  it. 

The  information  man  ran  his  fingers  up  through 
his  hair  and  inquired,  "The  Planters,  Captain  Lambert, 
really  I  do  not  recall  such  a  place  or  person."  Then,  with 
a  quick  jerk  of  his  vocal  organs  he  said,  "Say,  this  is 
Denver,  maybe  you  are  thinking  of  St.  Louis.  'The 
Planters'  is  an  old  standby  there,  but  I  never  heard  of 
such  a  place  hera" 

"Oh,  no,  no,"  said  Mr.  Campbell,  "twenty-six  years 
ago  I  came  from  the  Planters  Hotel  in  St.  Louis  to  the 
Planters  Hotel  in  Denver.  Captain  Lambert,  a  very  con- 
genial gentleman,  was  proprietor  of  the  latter  and  I 
should  like  to  renew  my  old  relations  there,  but  the  great 


AND  THE  PIONEER  485 

changes  here  have  blotted  out  my  old  landmarks  and  I 
have  forgotten  the  number." 

"Twenty-six  years  ago,"  replied  the  information 
man,  "that  was  just  one  year  before  I  was  born.  I  have 
seen  practically  all  of  the  Denver  of  1900  built.  In  1878 
H.  A.  W.  Tabor  began  building  the  Tabor  Block  and 
later  the  Tabor  Opera  House.  This  inspired  others  and 
they  began  the  Windsor,  Albany,  St.  James,  and  other 
splendid  hotels,  and  the  good  work  went  on  and  on  until 
they  have  climaxed  with  the  Boston,  Equitable,  Masonic 
Temple,  Ernest  &  Cranmer,  People's  Bank,  and  the  Brown 
Palace  Hotel,  a  $4,000,000  state  capitol  building,  and 
many  thousand  beautiful  private  homes  that  would  grace 
any  great  city.  Old  Denver  has  passed  away.  I  would 
suggest  that  you  take  the  Seventeenth  street  car  and  go 
to  the  Brown  Palace.  You  may  not  find  it  as  much  to 
your  liking  as  the  Planters,  but  you  can  obtain  the  neces- 
saries of  life  there,  at  least ;  besides  it  is  quite  convenient 
to  theatres,  capitol  grounds,  etc." 

With  valises  in  hand  they  moved  over  a  half-block, 
stepped  on  to  a  well-equipped  electric  car,  and  were  soon 
landed  at  the  Brown  Palace,  a  huge  brown  stone  edifice, 
nine  stories  high,  covering  all  of  the  small  triangular 
block,  which  gives  street  space  and 
light  to  every  part  of  the  building. 
Uniformed  messenger  boys  met  them 
at  the  door,  took  their  valises  and 
ushered  them  into  a  large,  brilliantly 
lighted  court,  extending  to  the  roof, 
with  a  chaste  tile  floor,  wainscoated 
with  Mexican  Onyx,  and  lined  with 
handsomely  banistered  balconies  fac- 
ing the  court  in  front  of  the  rooms  on  every  floor,  with 


486 


THE  PILGRIM 


many  ladies  and  gentlemen  in  full  evening  dress,  prome- 
nading, or  sitting  on  divans  and  watching  the  busy  scenes 
below. 

They  were  ushered  into  the  elegantly  equipped  dining- 


BROWN  PALACE  HOTEL  DINING  ROOM. 

room,  and  found  it  filled  with  stylishly  dressed  ladies 
and  gentlemen  and  tended  by  uniformed  waiters.  The 
gist  of  the  table  talk  was  the  great  agricultural,  grazing, 
mineral,  and  manufacturing  resources  tributary  to  Denver, 
and  the  brilliant  prospects  of  its  becoming  a  great  inland 
city.  Mr.  Wickham  said,  "Is  this  real,  or  is  it  a  mere 
erratic  phantasm,  a  figment  of  a  diseased  brain  ?  Where 
are  the  blue  shirts,  the  nail  boots,  the  democratic  social 
crowd  that  we  left  here?  How  am  I  to  become  one  of 
these  made-to-order  society  chaps  ?  I  am  too  old,  I  cannot, 
I  never  will." 

They  arose  early  the  next  morning  and  took  in  Denver 
via  a  scenic  car.  After  they  returned  to  the  Brown,  Mr. 
Wickham  sat  a  long  time  in  solemn  meditation,  then  raised 


AND  THE  PIONEER  487 

his  head  and  said,  "Mr.  Campbell,  this  is  a  wonder. 
These  are  some  of  the  changes  that  are  gratifying  to 
me.  I  am  delighted  to  see  Denver  metamorphosed  from 
the  little,  naked,  dirty  village  to  the  well  paved,  shaded, 
watered,  lighted,  and  magnificently  built  city  of  160,- 

000  people,      I   appreciate   the   elegant  capitol   building 
and  grounds,   the  splendid   transportation   facilities,   the 
sumptous  hotels   and   the  enviable  position   Denver  has 
attained  as  a  great  commercial,  manufacturing,  and  dis- 
tributing point;  but  in  the  last  analysis  it  is  the  people 
who  make  a  country  truly  great.     What  has  become  of 
the  modest,  sterling,  simply-dressed,  unpretentious  women  ? 
Where  are  the  sturdy  blue-shirted  and  nail-booted  men 
that  we  left  in  possession  of  Denver?     Where  are  the 
faithful  ponies   and    comfortable    buckboards    that    our 
wives  and  daughters  used  to  drive  over  range  and  prairie, 
bringing  us  supplies  or  taking  us  to   work?      Have   those 
noble  democratic  customs  been  swallowed  up  by  the  empty, 
ostentatious  ways  of  the  Four  Hundred  ?    Who  would  have 
expected  in  the  space  of  a  quarter  of  a  century  to  see  the 
'swallow  tail7  coat,  the  train,  the  bosomless  evening  dress, 
the  liveried  coachman  and  footman,  the  bobtailed  horse, 
the  exclusive  set,  the  senseless  society  'chitter  chatter'  wipe 
out  the  natural,  sensible,  and  enjoyable  social  customs  of 
the  pioneer  days  ?    Is  there  nothing  but  the  constant  sun- 
shine, the   dry,  pure   atmosphere — things   that  depraved 
men  cannot  contaminate — left  of"  the  matchless  pioneer 
civilization  ?    From  what  I  have  seen  in  the  last  few  days, 

1  fear  this  is  too  true!" 

At  this  point,  Hon. ,  candidate  for  governor  from 

Pueblo  was  introduced  to  Mr.  Wickham.  Mr.  Wickham's 
face  brightened  up  as  he  grasped  his  hand  and  said, 
"Yes,  I  left  the  little  Mexicanized  village  of  Pueblo, 


488  THE  PILGRIM 

April  10,  1874.  When  I  bade  Major  Bently  of  the 
Schuyler  Hotel  goodbye,  I  had  no  idea  that  T  would  be 
gone  so  long.  We  left  on  his  75th  birthday.  How  are 
Major  Bently,  and  the  Schuyler  House,  and  the  village 
of  Pueblo?" 

The  genial  candidate  for  governor,  cut  somewhat  at 
this  light  reference  to  his  home  city,  replied:  "My  dear 
sir,  I  never  heard  of  such  a  hotel  as  the  Schuyler  House, 
nor  of  such  a  man  as  Major  Bently,  nor  the  Mexicanized 
village  of  Pueblo.  Pueblo,  sir,  is  a  magnificently  lighted, 
well-paved,  and  well-built  city  of  40,000  people;  it  has 
as  fine  hotels,  business  blocks,  and  opera  houses  as  any 
city  in  the  state,  with  the  greatest  steel  plant  and  the  larg- 
est smelters  west  of  the  Mississippi  "River,  in  fact  one  of 
the  largest  steel  plants  in  the  whole  country,  and  the  heav- 
iest pay  rolls  in  the  state;  and  the  Arkansas  Valley 
tributary  to  Pueblo  is  now  becoming  the  greatest  melon, 
sugar-beet,  and  alfalfa-producing  territory  in  America. 
From  Rocky  Ford  and  Sugar  City  they  are  shipping  175 
tons  of  sugar  per  day,  grinding  1,700  tons  of  beets  per 
day,  and  are  shipping  train  loads  of  cantaloupes  and  other 
melons  daily  to  all  Eastern  markets.  And  these  indus- 
tries are  still  in  their  infancy.  My  friend,  they  have  actu- 
ally lifted  the  Arkansas  River  from  its  banks  and  spread 
it  over  the  prairie,  and  for  three  hundred  mUes  belcxw  La- 
mar  and  Amity,  the  pedestrian  can  make  his  bed  in  late 
summer  in  the  bottom  of  the  Arkansas  River  on  the  dry- 
sand.  The  matchless  coal  fields  of  Trinidad  and  Walsen- 
burg  are  almost  at  our  doors,  and  furnish  us  unlimited 
steam  power  at  a  mere  nominal  cost.  Pueblo,  sir,  is  no 
village,  but  the  Pittsburg  of  the  Middle  West." 

"Wonderful,  wonderful  changes  in  tho  country,"  said 


AND  THE  PIONEER  489 

Mr.  Wickham,  "but  have  the  social  conditions  of  the  peo- 
ple changed  in  the  past  quarter  of  a  century  ?" 

"O,  quite  as  much  as  the  country,"  said  the  candi- 
date. "You  can  find  as  many  fine-liveried  turnouts  with 
coachmen  and  footmen,  as  many  ladies  and  gentlemen  in 
full  evening  dress  at  the  balls  or  theatres,  as  you  will 
find  in  any  Eastern  city  of  like  size.  Yes,  the  inhab- 
itants of  Pueblo  are  very  much  like  other  people  now." 

"Sad,  sad!"  said  Mr.  Wickham,  "From  what  you 
say  I  feel  no  interest  in  the  people  except  that  I  would 
like  to  see  Major  Bently.  I  am  sure  he  is  not  changed." 

"O,  excuse  me,  I  forgot  to  recur  to  him,"  said  the 
candidate.  "You  say  you  left  Pueblo  on  Major  Bently's 
75th  birthday,  some  twenty-six  years  ago;  that  would 
make  him  101  years  old.  We  live  a  long  time  down  rhere, 
but  we  don't  all  pass  the  century  line." 

"Oh,  yes,  yes,  I  forgot  to  note  the  flight  of  time." 

Col.  McShane,  candidate  for  the  legislature  from 
El  Paso  and  Teller  counties,  was  introducod.  "Mr.  Wick- 
ham brightened  up  and  said,  "Yes,  yes,  you  v/ant  to 
represent  that  beautiful  spot  of  Colorado  Springs,  and 
that  sacred  spot,  the  Garden  of  the  Gods,  reverently  re- 
ferred to  as  the  'Lord's  parlor,'  by  that  wordy  lawyer — 
what  is  his  name  ? — yes,  General  Danford.  How  is  the  lit- 
tle village  where  they  supported  the  incongruous  trio  of 
professional  foot-racers,  whisky-wheels,  and  a  garden  for 
the  gods  ?" 

"Oh,  my  dear  sir,"  replied  the  breezy  colonel,  "the 
village-days  of  Colorado  Springs  have  passed  and  gone, 
and  her  aesthetic  city-days  are  here.  Colorado  Springs  has 
more  stately  stone  and  brick  business  blocks,  more  elognnt 
homes,  more  wealth  per  capita,  more  magnificent  hotels, 
and  is  the  best  governed  city  of  twenty  odd  thousand  poo- 


490 


THE  PILGRIM 


pie  in  the  world.  My  dear  sir,  Colorado  Springs,  the  re- 
ception room,  has  become  about  as  elegant  as  the  Lord's 
Parlor,  and  the  streets, — well,  they  are  simply  macad- 
amized with  grains  of  pure  white  sand  and  are  as  elastic, 
level,  clean,  and  smooth  as  Galveston  beach.  The  present 
population  knows  nothing  of  a  professional  foot-runner, 
and  a  gentleman  can  get  all  of  the  invigorating  drinks 
he  wants  if  he  has  character  enough  and  sufficient  money 
to  get  into  one  of  the  splendid  clubs  supported  there ;  the 
Garden  of  the  Gods  we  have  always  with  us.  You  should 

see  the  New  Antlers 

Hotel  and  some  of 
the  new  residences ; 
they  are  dreams,  they 
would  ornament  New 
York  City." 

Mr.  Wickham 
answered:  "Yes,  yes, 
these  material  im- 
provements are  very 
desirable  if  they  can 
be  maintained  with- 
out degenerating  the  people.  Where  are  the  sterling, 
hardy  pioneers  ?  Where  are  the  calico  dress  and  the  blue- 
shirt  and  nail-boot  brigades?  Are  they  still  dominant? 
Or  have  insipid,  unnatural,  and  unjust  select  sets  pushed 
these  noblest  sons  and  daughters  of  God  to  the  rear?  Are 
the  democratic  methods  still  in  vogue  or  have  the  osten- 
tatious assumptions  of  wealth  put  the  dollar  above  the 
man?" 

"0,  now,  my  Christian  friend,  I  can  see  you  are 
in  league  with  the  republicans.  You  are  certainly  trying 
to  encompass  my  defeat;  but,  confidentially,  if  you  go 


NEW  ANTLERS  HOTEL. 


AND   THE   PIONEER  491 

down  there  take  your  plug  hat,  patent-leather  shoes,  dress 
suit,  and  a  book  on  London  etiquette,  and  drop  your  IPs, 
if  you  wish  to  thrive  with  the  Four  Hundred.  You  know 
I  suppose  that  some  malicious  wretch  has  dubbed  this 
model  city  'Ittle  Undon.'  He  ought  to  b©  hung.  Yes, 
I  am  sorry  to  say  that  the  plug  hat,  the  swallow-tail  coat, 
the  patent-leather  shoes,  the  decollete  dress,  and  the  bob- 
tail horse  battalions  have  driven  from  the  ranks  of  the 
prevailing  society  the  calico  dress  and  blue-shirt  brigade." 

"Enough !  enough !"  said  Mr.  Wickham.  "Were  our 
people  sincere?  Were  the  many  visitors  from  the  East 
sincere  when  they  and  we  used  to  teach  and  claim  to 
believe  that  men  and  women  should  be  judged  by  qual- 
ities of  head  and  heart  rather  than  by  their  dress,  pedigree, 
or  accumulations  ?  Were  they  or  we  sincere  when  we 
used  to  encourage  the  house-girl  and  the  teamster  to 
clean  up  and  attend  all  of  our  balls  and  banquets  as  an 
equal  of  any  one  who  possessed  no  greater  moral  char- 
acter? Were  we  mistaken  when  we  boasted  that  these 
great  stimulants  to  the  working  people  did  more  to  elevate 
them  morally,  socially,  and  intellectually,  than  all  the  ser- 
mons and  moral  lectures  that  could  be  poured  into  them  ? 
Is  it  possible  that  aristocracy  of  wealth  rather  than  of 
human  character  is  the  inexorable  result  of  evolution?  I 
am  sorry  I  have  learned  of  the  decadence  of  the  grand 
pioneer  civilization  in  my  fast  declining  days." 

Senator  Colton  from  Utah  was  presented  to  Mr. 
Wickham,  and  the  old  man  held  his  hand  and  told  him  of 
the  delightful  trip  he  had  in  that  great  territory,  and  how 
grateful  he  was  to  be  set  right  on  the  Mormon  question. 
He  said  he  really  thought  before  his  visit  that  one  and 
all  of  this  great  army  of  people  deserved  hanging,  but 
that  his  actual  contact  with  them  convinced  him  that 


492  THE  PILGRIM 

the  things  objectionable  in  their  creed  were  like  a  mus- 
tard seed  in  a  bushel  of  chaff  compared  with  the  teach- 
ings and  practices  of  the  many  virtues  that  all  thinking 
people  approve.  "I  presume  the  Edmunds  law  has  blot- 
ted out  every  vestige  of  polygamy  in  Utah  by  this  time  ?" 
concluded  Mr.  Wickham. 

"No,  no,"  answered  Senator  Colton,  "You  are  quite 
as  much  in  error  about  the  cause  of  the  disappearance  of 
polygamy  in  Utah,  as  you  were  about  the  general  customs 
and  practices  of  the  people  before  your  visit  among  them. 
The  Edmunds  law  punished  some  of  those  who  had 
duplicate  wives  when  the  law  was  passed,  married 
when  it  was  lawful  to  marry  them,  but  the  young  boys  and 
girls  of  Utah  have  blotted  out  all  sentiment  for  dupli- 
cate marriages.  When  the  Gentiles  became  thoroughly 
mixed  with  the  Mormons,  the  subject  was  generally  dis- 
cussed, and  the  Mormon  girls  naturally  concluded  that 
the  Gentile  custom  of  having  but  one  adored  queen  in  every 
household  would  be  too  nice  for  anything.  This  con- 
vinced every  thinking  young  gentleman  of  Mormon  ante- 
cedents that  one  wife  was  the  natural  and  proper  comple- 
ment for  man,  and  in  this  wise  polygamy  was  destroyed. 
Public  sentiment  is  the  only  effective  human  law.  The 
misinformation  on  this  subject  comes  from  designing 
politicians  and  from  some  few  narrow-minded,  bigoted 
church  representatives  in  Utah,  who  are  jealous  of  the  hold 
the  Mormon  church  has  on  the  masses  there." 

"I  am  very  much  gratified,"  said  Mr.  Wickham,  "to 
be  set  right  again.  Has  Utah  progressed  like  Colorado  ?" 

"It  is  marvelous  how  Utah  is  driving  to  the  front," 
said  Senator  Colton.  "Handsome  buildings  are  going  up 
everywhere,  and  the  people  are  prosperous  and  happy.  The 
Knutsford  Hotel  and  the  city  buildings  in  Salt  Lake  City, 


AND  THE  PIONEER  493 

/ 

and  the  Salt  Air  Pavilion  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake  would  be 
ornaments  to  Boston ;  great  farms  are  being  developed,  and 
manufacturing  plants,  canneries,  and  sugar  factories  are 
going  up  all  over  Utah.  The  United  States  Industrial 
Commission  that  took  evidence  in  Salt  Lake  last  summer 
pronounced  the  industrial  condition  of  this  state  the  best 
of  any  state  in  the  union.  We  have  an  eight-hour  law, 
passed  by  the  legislature,  which  is  recognized  and  ap- 
proved by  both  employer  and  employe,  and  there  has 
never  been  a  successful  strike  or  labor  organization  there." 

"How  do  you  account  for  this?"  said  Mr.  Wickham. 

"Largely  through  the  control  that  the  Mormon 
church  wields  over  the  laborers  of  Utah,"  said  Senator  Col- 
ton.  "They  have  been  thoroughly  instructed  in  fidelity, 
industry,  and  conciliatory  methods,  and  in  the  desirability 
of  home  building.  Most  of  the  miners  have  little  tracts 
of  agricultural  ground  upon  which  they  can  grow  their 
own  vegetables,  etc.  If  work  in  the  mines  shuts  down  they 
retire  to  their  little  farms  and  cultivate  them.  When 
they  are  in  demand  again  they  leave  the  care  of  the 
patches  to  their  families  and  return  to  their  usual  voca- 
tions. I  might  say  that  the  independence  of  the  wage 
workers  here  makes  their  superior  condition,  and  the  fru- 
gal teachings  of  the  Mormon  leaders  have  imbued  them 
with  the  salutary  principles  of  independence." 

"How  gratifying,"  said  Mr.  Wickham,  "but  how  is 
the  social  condition  ?  Do  they  maintain  the  same  just  and 
natural  democratic  social  conditions  as  they  did  twenty- 
five  years  ago  ?" 

"Not  exactly.  Aristocracy  is  daily  encroaching  on 
democracy,  but  not  at  the  rapid  pace  of  Denver  and  Spo- 
kane." 


494  THE  PILGRIM 

"Sad,  sad,  sad!"  replied  Mr.  Wickham,  "that  nature 
seems  to  have  made  the  tares  more  powerful  than  the 
wheat  in  every  domain  of  his  kingdom ;  that  the  evil  every- 
where must  encroach  upon  the  good.  Is  this  necessary? 
Is  it  inevitable  £" 

Mrs.  Hal  Monk  was  presented  and  the  old  friends 
communed  in  sadness  about  the  worsted  past.  She  de- 
tailed the  infamously  false  charges  brought  against  her 
for  divorce,  and  how  civil  officers  and  alleged  friends,  hyp- 
notized with  her  husband's  money,  besieged  her  to  ac- 
quiesce in  the  false  charges  to  save  her  children  from  no- 
torious scandal. 

She  graphically  described  the  canting  of  the  judge 
about  a  liberal  and  just  division  of  the  joint  earnings  of 
the  husband  and  the  wife  while  he  decreed  to  her  the  pro- 
portion of  one  dollar  to  her  husband's  five  hundred  dollars, 
well  knowing  that  her  husband  was  throwing  his  portion 
into  the  laps  of  the  unworthy  everywhere;  told  him  that 
after  the  divorce  her  husband  married  his  charming  adven- 
turess, only^to  be  abandoned  at  the  end  of  five  years,  penni- 
less ;  told  how  she,  the  first  wife,  sent  for  him,  put  him  into 
a  Keeley  Institute,  paid  the  expenses  of  his  divorce  pro- 
ceedings against  wife  number  two,  remarried  him,  and 
was  caring  for  him. 

Her  eyes  filled  with  tears  as  she  fell  into  a  melan- 
choly mood  and  continued :  "Poor,  misguided  Hal.  They 
kept  him  filled  with  fiery  wine  until  all  the  mental  strength 
was  steeped  from  his  brain.  All  that  remains  is  the  coarse 
physical  man.  The  abused  brain  is  a  cindered  crater  as 
dead  as  the  lifeless  mountains  on  the  moon.  It  does  not 
crave  or  assimilate  mental  nutriment.  All  the  consola- 
tion left  me  is  the  dear  children.  Thank  God,  they  are  all 
moral,  intellectual,  prosperous,  and  highly  respected  citi- 


AND  THE  PIONEER  495 

zens.  I  still  have  the  most  of  the  hundred  thousand  dollars 
doled  out  to  me,  while  my  husband  was  given  millions 
to  spend  in  a  revelling  debauch.  But  this  is  man's  idea 
of  an  equitable  division  of  joint  earnings  between  hus- 
band and  wife,  even  where  the  wife  does  the  most  of 
the  work,  as  I  did  in  this  case.  However,  I  am  not  com- 
plaining. I  can  take  care  of  my  husband's  physical  wants, 
and  help  my  children  some,  if  need  be." 

Mr.  Wickham  answered:  "The  pure-blooded  Caucas- 
ian woman  is  the  salt  of  the  earth.  What  ideal  mothers 
they  make.  Yes,  yes,  every  one  expected  these  children 
to  be  most  like  you.  They  should  be,  because  you  per- 
form the  lion's  share  in  their  formation.  The  sire  con- 
tributes his  share  of  blood  to  the  raw  material  for  the 
foundation,  then  turns  the  work  over  to  the  mother.  She 
nourishes  the  developing  embryo  with  her  life  blood, 
until  the  umbilical  chord  is  severed,  then  succors  the 
child  on  the  milk  of  her  bosom  until  it  is  able  to  masticate 
solid  food.  How  can  it  be  otherwise  than  like  her?  I 
would  to  God  there  was  some  way  to  form  them  after  the 
model  of  the  sire  at  times !  Ah,  how  fortunate  are  they 
who  have  such  pure-blooded  dames  as  yourself.  God  pity 
the  unfortunate  ones  born  of  wild,  barbarian  mothers.  My 
poor,  unfortunate  ones,  I  have  given  them  abundance  to 
buy  food  and  raiment;  they  are  not  capable  of  enjoying 
more.  •  God  bless  their  dear  husbands,  who  so  patiently 
tolerate  their  wild  natures.  I  must  stop.  I  am  constantly 
undone." 

Mr.  Wickham  was  introduced  to  Senator  Norton 
from  Central  City.  The  old  man  heartily  grasped  his 
hand  and  suggested,  "Evidently  you  know  the  fate  of  my 
old  friends,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Herman  Mark,  and  the  Emerald 
Isle." 


496  THE  PILGRIM 

"Yes,"  replied  Senator  Norton,  "They  have  all  been 
buried  on  Bald  Mountain  except  the  old  woman  and  the 
youngest  boy.  They  struck  a  little  pay  ore,  bought  their 
house  back,  and  have  a  small  pocket  of  good  mineral  that 
feeds  and  clothes  them.  The  old  woman  hasn't  been  off 
the  hill  for  forty  years,  and  the  boy  has  never  been  out 
of  the  county,  though  he  is  thirty-three  years  old.  The 
manager  of  the  last  conclave  in  Denver  tendered  them 
transportation  to  Denver  and  return,  hotel  fare  and  passes 
to  all  the  entertainments,  if  they  would  visit  Denver  as 
a  part  of  the  curiosities  of  the  big  show.  The  mother 
and  son  consulted  and  replied  that  they  were  perfectly 
contented  now  on  the  Emerald  Isle;  that  if  they  should 
go  to  Denver  they  might  want  to  go  somewhere  else; 
that  they  had  not  used  any  money  for  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury that  hadn't  come  from  the  Emerald  Isle,  and  they 
didn't  care  to  use  any  other  money.  They  informed  the 
committee  that  they  would  stay  on  Bald  Mountain  the 
remainder  of  their  lives,  and  be  buried  with  the  other 
members  of  the  family  there,  if  anyone  should  care  enough 
for  them  to  bury  them." 

In  the  evening  a  ball  was  given  in  the  parlors  to 
the  guests  of  the  house.  The  invitations  requested  all 
gentlemen  to  appear  in  dress  suits.  In  the  court  of  the 
hotel  the  following  query  and  answer  was  most  common: 
"Are  you  going  to  attend  the  ball  this  evening?"  "JSTo, 
I  have  not  a  dress  suit  here,  and  the  invitation  practically 
requests  all  who  cannot  appear  in  dress  suits  to  stay 
away." 

Mr.  Wickham,  after  hearing  many  of  these  inquiries 
and  replies,  rubbed  his  head  and  inquired,  "Is  this  really 
Denver?  Do  the  clothes  really  make  the  man  here?  Is 
all. this  real  or  am  I  dreaming?"  However,  the  couples 


AND   THE  PIONEER  497 

appeared  in  goodly  numbers,  all  in  full  evening  attire, 
which  ultimately  convinced  the  Pioneer  that  these  great 
changes  were  real.  Disgusted  and  chagrined,  he  was 
about  to  retire  to  his  room  when  Col.  McShane  reappeared 
and  suggested:  "Mr.  Wickham,  I  live  in  Cripple  Creek, 
one  of  the  wonders  of  the  new  world,  the  greatest  gold 
mining-camp  on  earth,  where  the  calico  dress,  blue-shirt 
and  nail-boot  brigade  absolutely  dominate  the  sentiment 
of  the  community — where  men  and  women  are  judged 
and  esteemed  exclusively  by  their  moral  and  intellectual 
standing.  You  had  better  go  up  with  me  to-morrow  and 
visit  this  great  mining-camp  and  you  will  find  the  seed  at 
least  of  this  great  pioneer  civilization  still  preserved." 

"I  shall  go,  I  shall  go/'  eagerly  replied  Mr.  Wickham. 

Col.  McShane  and  Mr.  Wickham  took  the  morning 
train,  and  in  the  afternoon  they  alighted  on1  the  platform 
at  Cripple  Creek.  It  was  crowded  with  miners  coming 
and  going  from  Victor,  Altman,  Goldfield,  Independence, 
Elkton,  and  surrounding  camps.  One  by  one  they  grasped 
the  colonel's  hand  and  heartily  welcomed  him  home.  In 
turn  he  introduced  them  to  Mr.  Wickham  and  every  one 
had  some  genial  word  of  welcome  or  an  expression  of 
hope  that  he  would  enjoy  his  stay  in  the  greatest  gold 
mining-camp  in  the  world.  Now  and  then  he  met  an 
acquaintance  from  Central  City,  Georgetown,  or  some 
other  old-time  camp.  Among  .others  he  met  Mr.  Rich 
from  Georgetown.  He  held  him  long  and  tightly  by  the 
hand  while  asking  him  all  about  Georgetown,  Central 
City,  and  Idaho  Springs.  Mr.  Rich  answered,  "All  of 
these  camps  are  constantly  improving." 

"Ah,  indeed,"  said  Mr.  Wickham,  "I  left  those  camps 
twenty-seven  years  ago,  thinking  the  precious  metals  were 
about  exhausted,  and  you  say  they  are  constantly  improv- 


THE  PILGRIM— 32    . 


498  THE  PILGRIM 

ing.     When  are  they  to  cease  producing  wealth  in  these 
old  camps  ?" 

"When  man  shall  cease  to  develop  the  natural  re- 
sources of  the  earth,"  responded  Mr.  Rich.  "A  quar- 
ter of  a  century  ago  we  talked  about  exhausting  the 
mineral  resources  of  a  camp  in  a  few  years  and  then 
moving  on  to  new  fields.  Now  the  concensus  of  opinion 
of  all  experienced  mining  men  is  that  the  mineral  re- 
sources of  the  Rocky.  Mountains  are  inexhaustible.  Lead- 
ville,  Central  City,  Georgetown,  Idaho  Springs,  San  Juan, 
and  other  old  mining-camps  were  never  more  productive 
than  now,  and  every  prospect  is  that  they  will  continue 
to  get  better  for  generations  to  come." 

As  Mr.  Rich  gave  Mr.  Wickham  his  hand  to  bid 
him  goodbye,  the  old  Pioneer  inquired,  "What  are  you 
doing  now,  Rich?"  Mr.  Rich  replied,  "I  am  working 
the  Dives  and  Pelican  of  Georgetown,  or  Silver  Plume, 
rather."  "Wonderful,  wonderful,"  answered  Mr.  Wick- 
ham.  "I  remember  we  were  expecting  that  mine  to  be 
worked  out  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago.  I  remember  well 
when  they  had  the  great  ore  chute,  the  excitement,  and 
the  murder  of  poor  Judge  Gibbs,  and  our  general  talk 
was  that  in  a  few  months  the  ore  chute  would  exhaust." 

"Those  talks  and  expectations  have  all  changed,"  re- 
plied Mr.  Rich.  "The  Rocky  Mountain  ore  bodies  are 
permanent,  everlasting.  That  is  why  so  many  bankers 
and  conservative  business  men  have  gone  into  mining  here 
as  a  safe  and  legitimate  business.  The  Dives  and  Peli- 
can, notwithstanding  the  quarter  of  a  century  that  they 
have  been  producing  and  pouring  out  a  stream  of  valuable 
ore,  are  producing  right  along.  I  am  to-day  working  250 
men  extracting  ore  worth  five  hundred  dollars  per  ton 


AND  THE  PIONEER  499 

from  these  old  claims  with  no  thought  or  expectation  of 
its  exhaustion  for  generations  to  come." 

As  the  colonel  and  Mr.  Wickham  walked  up  to  the 
hotel,  Mr.  Wickham  said,  "Colonel,  don't  you  know  I  like 
this.  I  like  to  hear  the  tramp  of  these  nail-boots;  I 
like  to  look  at  those  blue  shirts;  I  like  the  smell  of  the 
talc  on  these  coats;  I  like  to  shake  the  hands  that 'are 
adding  something  to  the  general  stock  of  wealth;  I  like 
1o  hear  their  talks  about  material  development  of  the 
resources  of  the  country.  How  different  from  the  friv- 
olous, insipid  monotony  of,  'Why,  how  are  you?  Awful 
glad  to  see  ;>ou.  When  did  you  come  over?  How  are 
the  folks  ?  etc.,'  heard  at  the  Brown.  Such  empty  forms 
are  all  moonshina  There  is  something  substantial  about 
these  fellows." 

They  reached  the  hotel,  brushed  up  a  little,  and  en- 
tered the  dining-room  for  supper.  Colonel  McShane  con- 
ducted Mr.  WTickham  to  a  special  table  at  which  he  and 
his  friends  had  eaten  for  many  months.  He  introduced 
Mr.  Wickham  to  his  friends,  then  very  deferentially  in- 
troduced him  to  Miss  Mollie  Sewell,  a  very  rosy-cheeked, 
plump,  hazel-eyed  girl,  with  a  soft,  resonant  voice  and 
easy,  graceful  manners,  who  waited  on  this  special  table. 
She  bowed,  smiled,  and  said  she  gladly  welcomed  him 
to  her  table  during  his  sojourn  in  Cripple  Creek.  She 
took  the  orders  and  retired  to  the  kitchen.  At  once  the 
friends  of  the  colonel  launched  into  an  enthusiastic  de- 
scription of  a  fine  set  of  jewelry  they  had  just  presented 
to  the  waitress  as  a  token  of  their  appreciation  of  her 
efficient  attentions.  All  of  the  guests  pronounced  her  a 
most  excellent  individual. 

Mr.  Wickham  exclaimed,  "Ah,  what  a  human  atmos- 


500  THE  PILGRIM 

phere!  I  thank  God  I  have  again  reached  a  place  where 
every  dutiful  human  being  is  an  entity;  where  clothes 
or  position  are  not  the  test.  The  merit  system  alone  is 
in  harmony  with  the  spirit  of  the  Golden  Rule. 

"Oh,  what  a  superb  thing  this  refined  Caucasian 
blood  is,  whether  coursing  through  the  veins  of  the  first 
lady  of  the  land,  or  through  those  of  the  typical  dining- 
room  girl,  and  what  adorable  mothers  they  make.  A  child 
by  one  of  these  makes  the  flesh  of  our  flesh  and  blood  of 
our  blood.  How  different  it  is  when  one  endeavors  to 
mix  the  highly-civilized,  refined  blood  with  the  untamed 
strains  of  the  less  civilized  races.  There  they  make  flesh 
and  blood  of  the  lower  strain  only.  There  are  great 
distinctions  in  strains  of  blood,  but  it  cannot  be  tested 
by  accident  of  social  position." 

After  supper  the  guests  went  into  the  office  and  were 
smoking  and  enjoying  their  reminiscences  when  a  com- 
mittee appeared  and  informed  the  colonel  that  his  friends 
had  concluded  to  celebrate  his  return  with  an  informal 
dance  at  the  hotel  if  it  met  his  approval  and  he  could  be 
present.  The  colonel  replied  that  he  would  be  delighted. 

"Very  well,"  answered  the  spokesman,  "the  music 
will  start  up  at  nine  o'clock  sharp,  and  we  shall  expect 
you  and  some  lady  of  your  own  choosing  to  lead  the  grand 
march." 

The  colonel  hesitated  a  moment,  then  introduced 
Mr.  Wickham  to  the  committee,. as  his  guest,  and  said  that 
he  should  insist  that  his  guest,  with  the  prettiest  woman 
in  the  hall  as  a  partner,  should  lead  the  grand  march,  and 
added,  "I  shall  be  at  his  heels  with  a  second  choice 
beauty." 

Mr.  Wickham  replied,  "If  this  is  to  be  an  old-fash- 
ioned mining-canip  ball  where  every  man  and  every  woman 


AND   THE    PIONEER  501 

of  good  moral  character,  regardless  of  dress  or  position 
in  the  world,  is  to  stand  on  an  equal  footing,  I  shall 
enjoy  my  farewell  grand  march,  but  if  the  merit  system 
is  ignored,  I  could  not,  I  would  not,  attempt  to  stay 
in  the  hall." 

The  committee  informed  him  that  the  only  aristoc- 
racy in  Cripple  Creek  was  the  aristocracy  of  actual 
human  worth,  and  that  the  calico  dress,  the  nail-boots,  the 
blue  shirt,  the  talc-stained  coat  would  receive  much  more 
deference  than  patent-leather  shoes,  swallow-tail  coats  and 
long-trained  silks,  if  any  should  appear. 

"How  happy  I  am  that  I  came.  How  this  democratic 
atmosphere  has  rejuvenated  my  depressed  spirits,"  re- 
sponded Mr.  Wickham. 

"By  the  way,  colonel,"  inquired  Mr.  Wickham,  "why 
is  this  great  mining-camp  called  'Cripple  Creek  ?'  ' 

The  colonel  chuckled,  twisted  his  mustache  and  re- 
plied, "There  are  two  stories  extant  accounting  for  this 
name.  The  first  one  is  more  interesting,  even  if  less 
likely  to  be  true.  This  fall  at  the  press  association  in 
New  Orleans,  just  before  the  meeting  closed,  when  nomi- 
nations for  the  place  for  the  next  year's  meeting  were 
declared  in  order,  representatives  from  different  portions 
of  the  country  sprang  to  their  feet  and  presented  the 
special  inducements  that  their  respective  cities  offered, 
and  among  others  one  of  our  friends  nominated  Cripple 
Creek  as  the  place  for  the  next  meeting.  An  aggressive 
spirit  from  one  of  the  Eastern  cities  arose  to  second  the 
nomination  of  a  neighboring  city  and  with  burning  sar- 
casm belittled  the  thought  of  such  a  place  as  this  for 
the  meeting  of  a  great  association.  In  closing  his  sar- 
castic and  impressive  address  he  spent  fifteen  minutes 
in  ridiculing  the  name  'Cripple  Creek,'  and  said  the  un- 


502  THE  PILGRIM 

couth  name  bespoke  its  unfitness  for  even  a  passing  con- 
sideration of  any  delegate  not  from  some  sage-brush 
thicket  of  the  West  or  'gum  swamp'  of  the  East.  When 
he  took  his  seat  we  did  not  have  a  friend  in  the  East  or 
South.  This  meeting  being  in  the  South,  a  decided  ma- 
jority of  the  delegates  were  Southern  people.  Fortunately 
for  us  Denver  had  a  delegate  there,  Senator  Plunkett, 
whose  throat  is  lined  with  velvet,  whose  nervous  system 
vibrates  with  pathos,  whose  soul  heaves  with  ambition,  who 
is  comely,  graceful,  and  eloquent,  and  has  snatched  more 
convention  victories  from  the  jaws  of  defeat  than  any  other 
human  being  in  the  great  West.  He  arose,  was  recog- 
nized, and  with  a  mellow-cadenced  voice  said  he  had 
no  particular  choice,  any  of  the  great  cities  named  were 
satisfactory  to  him,  but  he  wished  simply  to  shed  a  little 
light  on  the  name  'Cripple  Creek'  for  the  benefit  of  the 
historian  of  the  association,  rather  than  to  influence  any 
one  to  vote  for  it  as  the  place  of  the  next  convention. 
"He  said:  'In  1862  a  gallant  Southern  gentleman 
possessed  in  this  sun-kissed  land  a  magnificent  residence, 
and  hundreds  of  African  slaves  bought  under  the  sanction 
of  the  national  constitution  and  largely  from  the  very  men 
who  afterward  frantically  clamored  for  their  emancipation. 
Other  civilized  countries,  when  the  governments  changed 
their  public  policies  and  concluded  to  abrogate  slavery  in 
their  dominions,  had  compensated  the  slave-holder 
for  such  purchases  made  under  the  sanction  of 
their  laws.  The  proposed  confiscation  of  his  slaves 
carried  in  its  train  such  flagrant  injustices  that  his  sense  of 
justice,  his  love  of  home  and  native  land,  drove 
him  into  the  ranks  of  the  Confederate  army.  He  proved 
so  brave,  gallant,  and  true  that  the  enemy  delighted  in 
destroying  his  home  and  confiscating  all  of  his  personal 


AND  THE   PIONEER  603 

effects.  At  the  bloody  battles  of  Franklin,  near  the  close 
of  the  war,  while  supporting  General  Hood  in  one  of 
his  desperate  stands,  he  dropped  a  leg  and  an  arm  upon 
the  battlefield.  After  the  war  what  remained  of  his  vital 
parts  hobbled  upon  crutches  back  to  the  spot  where  he  had 
so  long  entertained  and  enjoyed  his  friends,  to  find  it  a 
bed  of  white  ashes.  When  he  stood  upon  that  sacred 
ground  and  compared  his  homeless,  propertyless,  and  man- 
gled physical  condition  with  what  it  had  been,  the  stout 
human  heart  was  not  adequate  to  the  superhuman  cour- 
age required  to  live  among  these  ever  present  reminders 
of  his  material  and  physical  undoing.  He  sold  the  rem- 
nant of  his  belongings,  took  his  Bible  and  Prayer-book 
under  his  remaining  arm,  and  went  into  exile  on  the  banks 
of  a  little  brook  in  the  unblazed  jungles  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains  that  he  might  be  relieved  of  seeing  the  in- 
animate reminders  of  his  sad  plight  during  the  short 
time  remaining  of  his  allotted  three  score  and  ten  years. 
He  erected  his  little  pole  cabin  under  great  difficulties,  and 
the  old  trappers  and  hunters  aided  him  and  shared  his 
hospitality,  but  never  could  fish  from  him  his  name  or 
any  part  of  his  history.' 

"  'His  congenial  and  sympathizing  spirit,  his  humane 
and  unstinted  hospitality,  born  in  the  very  bone  and 
sinew  of  every  Southern  gentleman,  so  endeared  him  to 
every  passing  hunter  and  trapper  that  by  common  con- 
sent they  set  apart  this  creek  as  his  preserve  and  tenderly 
called  it  the  "Cripple's  Creek;"  and  when  the  generous, 
hardy  gold-miner  discovered  the  great  gold-fields  here  they 
would  not  brook  a  change  of  the  sacred  name,  uncouth  and 
offensive  as  it  may  sound  when  severed  from  its  sad  asso- 
ciations.' 

"At  the  close  of  Senator  Plunkett's  pathetic  outburst 


504  THE  PILGRIM 

of  eloquence  the  demand  came  from  every  part  of  the 
house,  Vote,  vote,  vote.'  The  question  was  put  and  the 
almost  solid  Southern  delegation  overwhelmingly  decided 
that  the  next  meeting  of  the  association  should  be  at 
Cripple  Creek.  This  is  one  legend. 

"Another  is  told  by  the  pioneer  cowboys  to  this 
effect:  In  the  early  days  of  the  country  an  old  Texas 
steer  had  one  hip  knocked  down,  became  bony  and  poor, 
and  locomotion  was  very  difficult  for  him.  He  was  astute 
enough  to  know  that  it  was  unsafe  for  him  to  get  away 
from  water,  so  he  grazed  alone  upon  the  banks  of  this 
brook  and  drank  of  its  water  for  years,  and  the  cowboys 
generally  referred  to  the  brook  as  'The  Cripple's  Creek.' 
You  can  take  your  choice  of  the  roots  of  the  name  'Cripple 
Creek.'  " 

"I  infinitely  prefer  the  former  version,  whether  true 
or  false,  for  the  good  results  of  Senator  Plimkett's  elo- 
quence," said  Mr.  Wickham. 

"Yes,"  replied  the  colonel,  "the  end  justifies  the 
means.  The  Eastern  people  have  always  written  the 
newspaper  and  magazine  articles  and  the  book  descriptions 
of  this  country  and  people  without  knowing  anything  in 
particular  about  them.  They  have  been  partisan,  and 
the  people  have  suffered  the  usual  injury  where  rivals 
or  enemies  of  a  people  and  a  country  write  their  histories. 
If  the  people  of  the  West  cannot  write  their  own  books 
descriptive  of  the  people  and  country,  then  by  all  means 
get  the  writers  among  the  people  and  in  the  country  and 
as  nearly  right  as  possible." 

At  nine  o'clock  sharp  the  music  started  up  and  mem- 
bers of  the  committee  came  for  Col.  McShane  and  Mr. 
Wickham,  and  escorted  them  to  the  ball  room.  A  com- 
mitteeman  said  to  Mr.  Wickham,  "I  see  the  wife  of  the 


AND   THE   PIONEER  505 

proprietor  of  the  hotel  is  sitting  across  the  room;  also 
Mrs.  Held,  the  wife  of  the  cashier  of  the  bank.  I  shall 
be  glad  to  introduce  you  to  either  of  them,  and  either 
will  make  you  a  splendid  partner  for  the  grand  march." 

•  Mr.  Wickham  cast  his  eye  over  the  assemblage,  and 
the  first  person  he  fixed  his  eyes  upon  was  Mollie  Sewell, 
the  pretty  waitress.  "Excuse  me  a  moment,"  said 
he,  "I  see  a  nice  young  lady  over  there  that  I  am 
acquainted  with."  He  stepped  over  and  asked  Mollie 
to  assist  him  in  leading  the  grand  march.  She  cheerfully 
accepted.  Col.  McShane  secured  the  assistance  of  the 
type-writer  girl  in  the  hotel,  ind  the  merchants,  bankers 
and  others,  with  their  wives,  dropped  in  behind  without  a 
murmur  or  seemingly  a  thought  of  surprise. 

The  crowd  generally  was  neatly  dressed,  clean,  and 
well  behaved,  but  if  any  one  had  chanced  to  be  present 
without  a  white  shirt  or  a  good  business  suit,  he  would 
have  been  as  welcome  and  as  considerately  treated  as  the 
best  dressed  person  in  the  room. 

Mr.  Wickham  and  Mollie  led  the  march  with  much 
spirit  and  with  military  precision.  Afterward  the  old- 
time  dances  were  called,  such  as  Quadrille,  Virginia  Reel, 
Versouvienne,  Heel  and  Toe  Polka,  Lancers,  etc. 

The  object  of  every  gentleman  seemed  to  be  to  dance 
with  every  lady  friend  present.  The  bankers  and  business 
men  generally  danced  with  the  waitresses  in  the  hotels  and 
the  housemaids  at  their  own  and  their  neighbors'  homes. 
The  girls  were  all  neatly  dressed  and  their  manners  arid 
general  deportment  were  excellent.  In  fact,  the  unusual 
attentions  they  were  accustomed  to  receive  in  these  demo- 
cratic mining-camps  had  awakened  an  emulation  in  them 
to  make  as  good  an  appearance  as  their  more  fortunate 
sisters,  and  at  times  they  really  appeared  better. 


506  THE  PILGRIM 

Little  Oma,  a  five-year-old  daughter  of  a  near 
neighbor,  some  years  ago  was  stopped  by  Mrs.  Kent, 
who  had  her  baby  with  her  and  a  nice  young  house-girl 
pushing  the  baby  carriage.  The  little  girl  said  to  Mrs. 
Kent,  "Are  you  her  hired  girl  ?"  pointing  to  the  one  rolling 
the  baby  carriage. 

Mrs.  Kent  said,  "No;  why  did  you  think  I  was 
her  hired  girl?"  The  little  one  stuck  her  finger  in  her 
mouth  and  looked  at  Mrs.  Kent's  shining  silk  dress  and 
said,  "Cause  you  are  dressed  so  fine." 

Mr.  Wickham  enjoyed  every  moment  of  this  old- 
fashioned  democratic  dance,  and  retired  at  the  close  in 
an  ecstatic  mood. 

Early  the  next  morning  Col.  McShane  took  Mr. 
Wickham  out  to  see  this  wonderful  mining-town  and  a 
number  of  the  mines.  He  said  the  contour  of  the  country 
reminded  him  somewhat  of  Butte  City,  especially  the 
low,  accessible  ridges  right  in  the  suburbs  of  the  town  in 
which  the  mines  were  found. 

The  Cripple  Creek  mines  were  discovered  after  things 
became  permanent  in  the  West  and  after  people  learned 
that  the  Rocky  Mountain  quartz-mine  ore  bodies  were 
everlasting,  as  it  were,  hence  the  towns  in  this  district 
are  splendidly  built  of  iron,  stone,  and  brick.  Cripple 
Creek  is  probably  the  best  built  mining-town  of  6,000 
people  in  the  world.  The  output  of  gold  is  from  one  to 
two  million  dollars  per  month,  and  there  are  about  30,000 
people  in  what  is  known  as  the  Cripple  Creek  country. 

In  the  afternoon  the  citizens  of  Victor  sent  an  invi- 
tation to  Col.  McShane  and  Mr.  Wickham  for  a  seven 
o'clock  dinner.  The  invited  guests  stepped  on  to  one  of  the 
electric  cars  running  frequently  between  all  of  the  neigh- 
boring towns,  and  in  a  few  moments  were  in  charge  of 


AND  THE   PIONEER  507 

the  reception  committee  of  the  wonderful  town  of  Vic- 
tor. Some  of  the  greatest  mines  in  the  world  are  being 
worked  right  in  the  business  part  of  the  town.  A  splendid 
dinner  was  served  at  the  Miners'  Exchange,  reminiscent 
toasts  were  responded  to,  then  the  party  was  invited  over 
to  the  splendidly  built  and  exquisitely  equipped  Miners' 
Club  Room,  erected  by  the  Western  Investment  company, 
at  an  expense  of  forty  thousand  dollars,  for  the  enter- 
tainment of  its  own  miners.  Easy  chairs,  gymnasiums, 
a  splendid  billiard  and  pool  hall,  luxuriant  baths,  splendid 
offices,  and  rooms  all  brilliantly  lighted  with  electricity 
and  manned  with  generous,  courteous  attendants,  made 
one  think  of  some  magnificent  public  building  in  which 
some  great  institution  or  city  takes  its  chief  pride. 

As  they  entered  the  office  they  were  welcomed  by  Mr. 
Wilmet,  Jr.,  and  the  geologist  of  the  famous  G-old  Coin 
mine,  situated  right  in  the  heart  of  the  city.  This  great 
institution,  built  to  ameliorate  the  hard  condition  of  the 
miners,  greatly  affected  Mr.  Wickham  and  he  at  once 
began  to  ply  Mr.  Wilmet  with  questions,  "Why  did  you 
build  this?  What  did  it  cost?  What  effect  has  it  had 
on  your  workmen  ?"  etc. 

The  genial  and  frank  Mr.  Wilmet  replied  first,  "We 
built  this  because  Victor  and  the  miners  have  done  so 
much  for  us;  secondly,  we  could  afford  it  and  felt  it  a 
duty  to  do  something  more  than  the  ordinary  for  the 
country  and  the  men  that  had  so  improved  our  condition. 
It  cost  us  about  forty  thousand  dollars;  a  majority  of 
the  men  appreciate  it  very  much,  but  a  strong  minority 
of  our  men  never  have  seemed  to  appreciate  either  our 
efforts  or  good  intentions." 

"Strange,  remarkably  strange,"  answered  Mr.  Wick- 
ham.  "I  have  been  with  and  of  these  fellows  for  more 


508  THE  PILGRIM 

than  a  half  a  century,  and  there  is  not  a  class  of  men  in 
America  who  reason  more  from  cause  to  effect  or  are 
more  conservative  or  just  in  their  conclusions,  than  the 
American  gold  and  silver  miners.  This  minority  has 
some  cogent  reason  founded  in  deep  logic  for  this  appar- 
ent failure  to  appreciate  your  most  generous  and  humane 
efforts.  I  would  suggest  that  you  candidly  inquire  into 
the  cause  of  this  seeming  ingratitude." 

Mr.  Wilmet  and  the  gentlemanly  geologist  then  in- 
vited them  out  upon  an  elevated  balcony  to  look  at  the 
camp  by  electric  light. 

The  high  rolling  hills  back  of  Victor  form  a  semi- 
circle, hugging  the  basin-like  location  of  the  town,  and  they 
are  literally  covered  with  working  mines,  all  lighted  with 
electricity;  electric  cars,  brilliantly  lighted,  were  shoot- 
ing over  the  hills  from  mine  to  mine  like  phosphorescent 
shuttle-cocks.  The  scene  is  indescribable  but  most  forcibly 
reminds  one  of  a  half-circle  of  the  firmament  upon  a 
clear  night,  be-spattered  with  innumerable  constellations 
of  enlarged  stars,  with  countless  dissatisfied  meteors  dart- 
ing through  them. 

After  they  bade  Mr.  Wilmet  and  the  geologist  good- 
bye, Mr.  Wickham  said,  "Col.  McShane,  I  want  to  see  a 
leader  of  the  minority  of  the  workmen  on  the  Gold  Coin 
who  fail  to  appreciate  this  splendid  club  building.  They 
are  not  actuated  by  prejudice,  but  some  fundamental  rea- 
son prevents  their  patronizing  this  luxuriant  building." 

The  colonel  conducted  him  up  to  the  office  of  the 
Miners'  Union.  Mr.  Wickham  immediately  stated  the 
object  of  his  visit.  The  courteous  secretary  telephoned 
to  the  leader  of  the  protesting  minority  on  the  Gold  Coin ; 
he  came  up,  was  introduced  to  Mr.  Wickham,  and  the 
object  of  the  call  frankly  stated  to  him.  The  miner  said, 


AND    THE    PIONEER  509 

"We  fully  appreciate  the  good  intentions  of  the  Western 
Investment  Company,  and  if  all  employers  of  labor  were 
like  the  Western  Bros.,  there  would  be  no  serious  dif- 
ficulties between  labor  and  capital ;  but  the  recognition  of 
the  precedent  of  accepting  little  sentimental  palliatives, 
which,  for  the  time,  divert  the  minds  of  the  workmen  and 
'of  the  public  from  fundamental  injustices  in  the  distri- 
bution of  wealth,  are  what  deter  us.  All  of  these  gifts 
of  the  Rockefellers,  Carnegies,  and  Vanderbilts,  furnish 
indubitable  evidence  of  the  unconscionable  proportion  that 
capital  has  taken  from  the  joint  earnings  of  capital  and 
labor.  Labor,  accepting  back  these  illy-gotten  gains  as 
alms,  presents  a  parallel  to  Nero's  feeding,  amusing,  and 
fiddling  for  the  people  while  destroying  the  very  bone  and 
sinew  of  the  nation  and  of  the  city  of  Rome  itself.  It  is 
like  putting  a  soothing  salve  upon  a  burning  cancer,  which 
quiets  the  patient  while  the  festering  sore  spreads  its 
roots  to  the  very  vitals,  instead  of  at  once  removing  the 
cancerous  patch  that  the  remainder  of  the  body  may  es- 
cape poison  andvdeath.  We  demand  that  the  causes  that 
permit  capital  to  obtain  from  the  earnings  of  labor  these 
burdensome  surplusages  of  wealth  be  removed  by  the  dis- 
tribution of  a  larger  portion  to  the  side  of  labor.  We 
refuse  to  accept  these  palliatives,  even  at  the  hands  of  men 
with  the  good  intentions  of  the  Western  Investment  Com- 
pany. We  desire  that  the  eyes  of  the  public  shall  ever 
be  riveted  on  the  fundamental  evil." 

Mr.  Wickham  replied,  "There  is  much  force  in  what 
you  say." 

The  next  morning  they  returned  to  Cripple  Creek 
and  were  conducted  through  the  market  streets,  great 
stores,  and  public  offices.  Every  necessity  of  life  was 
kept  here,  and  of  the  very  highest  order  and  quality,  as 


510  THE  PILGRIM 

wages  were  high  and  the  people  generally  wanted  the 
best.  They  never  before  in  any  market  saw  the  general 
average  of  the  quality  of  vegetables  and  fruits  so  high, 
and  the  merchants  told  them  that  their  general  grocery 
stocks  were  of  the  same  high  order. 

When  the  bus  was  called  for  the  train  for  the  Ar- 
kansas Valley  country,  Mr.  Wickham  gathered  his  grip 
and  with  a  heavy  heart  bade  the  proprietor  of  the  hotel 
good-bye  and  sought  to  do  likewise  with  Col.  McShane 
and  several  others,  but  one  after  another  answered,  "We 
shall  bid  you  good-bye  at  the  train;  I  am  going  down  to 
see  you  off."  This  deeply  touched  the  Pioneer.  While 
they  were  waiting  for  the  train  to  start,  Mr.  Wickham 
said,  "Col.  McShane,  my  exuberant  spirits  of  the  last  two 
days  have  begun  a  reactionary  turn  which  mixes  a  sadness 
with  my  delight  Don't  you  know  that  the  democratic 
territory  in  the  great  West  has  been  chopped  off  and  off 
until  but  a  few  little  spots  like  this  are  left  as  breeding 
grounds  of  the  higher  civilization  that  used  to  cover  all 
of  the  territory  west  of  the  Missouri  River?  I  fear  that 
ere  long  these  remaining  little  necks  of  land  will  be  inun- 
dated by  the  great  mass  of  aristocratic,  muddy  water,  not 
leaving  even  an  inlet  or  island  for  the  breeding  of  pure  de- 
mocracy." 

"Yes,"  said  the  colonel,  "I  share  your  sombre  fore- 
bodings. I  hope,  however,  that  when  we  get  a  represen- 
tation here  of  all  the  leading  editors  this  summer,  their 
contact  with  our  advanced  social  methods  will  furnish  a 
leaven  which  may  work  through  the  Eastern  Press  and 
turn  the  great  mass  of  the  people  to  the  teachings  of  Wash- 
ington, Jefferson,  and  Lincoln." 

"Such  a  supposition  is  contrary  to  all  human  his- 
tory," Mr.  Wickham  replied.  "Democracy  does  not  seem 


AND   THE    PIONEER  511 

to  thrive  in  old  soil.  Lord  Byron,  after  his  pilgrimage 
over  the  ashes  of  many  dead  governments,  lamentingly 
put  to  the  world  this  significant  query : 

"  'Can  tyrants  but  by  tyrants  conquered  be, 
And  freedom  find  ,no  champion  and  no  child, 
Such  as  Columbia  saw  arise  when  she 
Sprung  forth  a  Pallas,  arm'd  and  undefiled? 
Or  must  such  minds  be  nourished  in  the  wild, 
Deep  in  the  unpruned  forest,  'midst  the  roar 
Of  cataracts,  where  nursing  Nature  smiled 
On  infant  Washington?     Has  earth  no  more 
Such  seeds  within  her  breast,   or  Europe  no   such 
shore?'" 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

OFF  TO  SEE  HIS  CHILDREN. 

It  had  been  twenty-six  years  since  Mr.  Wickham 
had  seen  or  heard  directly  from  his  children,  and  he 
had  some  misgivings  as  to  what  might  have  happened 
to  them.  He  felt  a  little  hurt  that  they  had  not  personally 
written  him,  but  he  thought  that  they  were  wrapped  up 
in  their  husbands  and  believed  that  they  could  write 
better  than  themselves.  When  he  reached  the  neighbor- 
hood of  the  thirty-eight  hundred  acres  of  land  given  him 
by  Hopping  Antelope,  he  went  into  ecstasies.  The  whole 
country  around  was  verdant  with  the  growth  of  melons, 
sugar  beets,  and  alfalfa,  and  beautiful  homes  were  sur- 
rounded with  orchards.  It  occurred  to  him  that  his  chil- 
dren must  be  enormously  rich  from  the  growth  of  com- 
munity values  alone.  He  asked  one  after  another  who 
boarded  the  train  about  his  sons-in-law,  but  could  find  no 
one  that  had  ever  heard  of  them,  though  every  informer 
said  that  he  was  quite  new  in  the  country. 

At  Rocky  Ford  there  was  great  life.  The  fields  were 
covered  with  sugar-beet  gatherers,  cantaloupe  packers,  etc. 
The  roads  were  lined  with  teamsters,  a  magnificent  sugar 
factory  was  grinding  a  thousand  tons  of  beets  daily,  and 
trains  were  being  loaded  with  cantaloupes  for  the  Eastern 
markets  and  for  Europa 

When  the  train  stopped  in  the  beautiful  little  city, 
the  courteous  conductor  said,  "There  is  a  freight  wreck 
just  ahead  of  us  and  we  will  be  detained  an  hour  or  so, 
and  the  passengers  will  have  time  to  look  through  the 

(513)  THE  PILGRIM.— 33 


AND   THE   PIONEER  515 

Rocky  Ford  Sugar-Beet  Factory."  The  passengers  were 
conducted  to  the  office  of  the  company  by  the  kind-faced 
Senator  Scovil,  and  the  condition  was  stated  to  the  assis- 
tant manager,  Mr.  Eldon.  He  instantly  dropped  his  pen 
and  conducted  -the  passengers  to  an  elevated  board  plat- 
form covering  half  an  acre,  with  mammoth  wooden  funnels 
in  the  center.  One  wagon  momentarily  followed  another 
and  dumped  its  beets  into  this  great  funnel  and  hurried 
away,  like  so  many  teamsters  with  their  scrapers  on  a  rail- 
road grade.  The  wagon  boxes  were  built  above  the  wheels 
and  a  great  rope  hammock  with  a  ring  hanging  over  each 
end  lay  upon  the  bottom  of  the  wagon  box  upon  which 
the  beets  were  loaded.  These  rings  were  placed  on  an 
elevated  hook,  a  button  was  touched,  and  by  electric  power 
the  whole  load  was  raised  from  the  wagon  and  swung  over 
the  great  funnel,  the  farmer  jerked  a  rope  attached  to 
the  center  of  his  hammock,  it  unjointed  and  dropped  the 
beets  into  the  great  receiver  and  they  rapidly  poured 
through  the  small  end  of  the  funnels  into  a  raging  stream 
of  water  which  loosened  the  dirt  and  washed  them  down 
hundreds  of  feet  into  a  tank  filled  with  water.  Here 
revolving  arms  tumbled  them  in  every  direction,  and 
washed  and  scraped  them  until  they  were  as  white  as 
peeled  cabbage  stalks;  then,  by  a  system  of  elevators, 
they  were  conducted  to  grinders  and  presses  and  the  juices 
were  carried  into  the  boilers  and  chemical  processes  which 
extracted  and  purified  them  into  96  per  cent  granulated 
white  sugar.  As  these  teams  dumped  their  loads  momen- 
tarily, a  passenger  said  to  Mr.  Eldon,  "You  must  run 
through  hundreds  of  tons  a  day."  "Yes,"  said  Mr.  Eldon, 
"we  ran  through  1,050  tons  yesterday."  They  were  led 
through  and  advised  of  all  the  different  processes  leading 
from  the  dirty  raw  beet  to  the  chaste  white  sugar.  The 


516  THE  PILGRIM 

appliances  seemed  to  have  exhausted  the  whole  domain  of 
chemistry  and  labor-saving  machinery.  When  they  reached 
the  last  process,  they  saw  the  startling  sight  of  a  hundred- 
pound  sack  of  refined  sugar  dropping  from  a  spout  every 
minute  with  as  much  ease  and  regularity  as  the  sweet 
water  drips  from  the  spile  of  the  sugar-maple  in  the 
mountains  of  Vermont. 

The  Pioneer  suggested  to  Mr.  Eldon,  "This  must 
be  a  wonderful  country  to  produce  all  of  this  saccharine 
matter." 

Mr.  Eldon,  turning  to  him,  replied,  "Probably  the 
most  marvelous  on  the  globe.  On  mere  tests  of  a  few 
acres,  we  put  a  million  dollars  into  this  plant  and  our 
judgment  has  been  verified  by  witnessing  the  greatest  ton- 
age  per  acre,  fraught  with  the  highest  per  cent  of  saccha- 
rine matter  known  to  man." 

The  Pioneer  answered,  "You  will  reap  a  rich  reward 
for  your  superior  sagacity  and  this  great  investment" 

Mr.  Eldon  dropped  his  eyes  to  the  floor,  shook  his 
head  and  replied,  "All  the  combinations  of  nature  favor 
us,  but  the  combinations  of  men  seek  to  destroy  us.  The 
moment  the  heartless  monopoly  of  sugar  refiners  saw  the 
matchless  success  of  the  sugar-beet  industry,  where  the 
same  mill  makes  the  raw  and  the  refined  sugar,  it  cut 
the  price  of  sugar  at  all  Missouri  River  points  one  and 
one-half  cents  per  pound,  so  that  we  cannot  market  our 
product  to  advantage,  and  so  as  to  discourage  the  increase 
of  acreage  and  the  building  of  new  mills.  The  sugar  in 
our  market  is  cut  below  the  cost  of  production." 

The  Pioneer  rose  to  his  full  height,  exclaiming, 
"Is  it  possible  ?  I  knew  these  combinations  were  greater 
than  the  government  that  creates  them,  but  did  not  suppose 


AND    THE    PIONEER  517 

that  they  were  greater  than  the  Almighty.  In  this  case 
all  of  the  elements  of  nature  are  for  you,  and  those  of 
aggregated  greed  against  you.  Here  God  proposes  and 
the  conscienceless  sugar-trust  disposes.  It  would  seem 
that  these  infernal  creatures  are  not  only  greater  than  their 
Creator,  but  mightier  than  this  fertile  soil,  this  perpetual 
sunshine;  yea,  able  to  thwart  the  will  of  God  himself! 
Will  the  manhood  of  the- nation  ever  be  sufficiently  aroused 
to  lift  the  iron  heel  of  these  grotesque  monsters  from  the 
neck  of  a  long-suffering  people?  How  strange  that  the 
God-created  beings  of  flesh  and  blood  and  brains  are  in- 
capable of  coping  with  these  bloodless,  heartless,  soulless, 
artificial,  man-made  creatures.  These  cormorants  constant- 
ly vote  the  people  for  their  own  piratical  destruction.  The 
God-made  man — poor,  weak,  feeble,  miscreant  that  he  is — 
may  learn,  but  is  ever  slow  to  benefit  from  experience. 
How  long,  how  long  will  he  play  the  despicable  part  of 
the  destroyer  of  his  own  wife,  his  own  children,  aye  of 
himself  ?  Must  it  ever  be  thus  ?"  The  assistant  superin- 
tendent shook  his  head  in  sad  silence. 

The  Pioneer  continued,  "Land  values  must  be  very 
high  here."  The  superintendent  answered,  "Yes,  from 
$150  to  $250  near  the  mill." 

The  Pioneer  moved  off  toward  the  car,  solilo- 
quizing, "My  sons-in-law  must  be  rich  as  Croesus.  I  won- 
der if  they  are  interested  in  any  of  these  infernal  com- 
binations?" The  bell  rang  and  the  passengers  entered 
the  cars  and  were  off  toward  the  Kansas  line.  Soon  after 
passing  Rocky  Ford,  the  Pioneer  reached  his  old  ranch. 
It  was  a  perfect  oasis — green,  green,  green  .everywhere. 
The  local .  passengers  told  him  that  the  whole  tract  was 
worth  fifty  dollars  per  acre.  He  thought  that  his  sons- 
in-law  must  yet  hold  the  possessions  he  gave  them.  At 


518  THE  PILGRIM 

about  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  the  train  whistled  in  to 
the  sidetrack  at  Mr.  Wickham's  old  homestead,  and  a  well 
developed,  business-looking  woman  of  middle  age  stepped 
up  to  the  mail  car,  got  the  daily  papers,  and  returned  to 
the  house.  Mr.  Wickham  quickened  his  step  and  over- 
took her  just  as  she  was  opening  the  door.  He  asked 
her  if  she  could  tell  him  who  owned  that  place.  The 
woman  stood  squarely  on  both  feet,  looked  him  in  the 
eyes  and  answered,  "Yes,  I  own  it." 

Mr  Wickham,  with  a  trembling  frame  and  a  very 
much  depressed  voice,  inquired,  "Would  you  mind  telling 
me  when  and  from  whom  you  purchased  it  ?"  The  woman 
answered,  "I  purchased  it  from  Jack  Michaeljohn  ten 
years  ago."  Mr.  Wickham,  now  very  weak,  asked,  "Can 
you  tell  me  what  became  of  the  former  owner  and  his 
family?" 

With  much  indignation  the  woman  raised  herself 
on  the  balls  of  her  feet  and  replied,  "It  is  to  be  hoped  that 
the  scoundrel  is  in  the  penitentiary  somewhere,  but  it  is 
probable  that  he  is  revelling  in  his  crazy  old  father-in- 
law's  property,  with  some  frivolous,  cunning  upstart,  who 
is  pretending  love  to  him,  while  his  lawful  wife,  poor 
thing,  is  scrubbing  the  floors  of  the  big  hotel  up  on  the 
hill  yonder  for  her  bread.  Her  husband  took  the  forty 
thousand  dollars  he  got  for  the  place  and  all  he 
got  out  of  his  cattle,  and  absconded  to  parts  unknown, 
leaving  her  penniless.  Her  crazy  old  father  was  madder 
than  the  pre-historic  old  King  Lear,  who  gave  all  of  his 
estate  to  his  daughters,  disinheriting  himself  only,  and 
though  his  ungrateful  daughters  drove  him  out  into  the 
storm  penniless  to  perish,  they  still  had  their  husbands, 
and  the  dear  husbands  would  stick  to  their  dear  wives, 
like  sick  kittens  to  hot  rocks,  as  long  as  their  estates 


AND  SHE  STOOD  PAT. 


AND   THE   PIONEER  521 

lasted.  Old  Joshua  Wickham  divided  his  estate  up  among 
his  sons-in-law, — sons-in-law,  mind  you, — disinheriting 
not  only  himself,  but  his  daughters  and  their  children. 
Yes,  the  fifty  thousand  he  gave  to  each  of  his  sons-in-law 
was  a  direct  incentive,  a  bribe  for  them  to  abandon  his 
daughters,  their  wives,  and  hunt  up  some  gay,  empty- 
headed  butterflies  of  the  great  cities  with  whom  to  spend 
the  money  in  debauch.  I  thank  God  that  the  scales  had 
fallen  from  the  Colorado  women's  eyes  before  I  got  my 
part  of  my  father's  estate  and  before  I  bought  this  place. 
It  is  in  my  name  and  always  shall  be,  and  I  never  shall 
want  for  a  dear,  loving  husband.  If  old  Joshua  Wickham 
had  known  enough  to  come  in  out  of  the  rain,  and  had 
put  his  property  in  the  name  of  his  daughters  and  their 
children  inalienably,  they  would  all  have  homes  and  most 
obedient  and  loving  husbands,  and  if  a  husband  should 
die,  before  fashion  would  permit  the  daughter  to  shed 
her  widow's  weeds,  a  train  of  marriageable  men  would 
be  pleading  at  her  feet  for  the  place  of  Number  Two.  The 
fool  says  that  'The  hand  that  rocks  the  cradle,  rules  the 
world,'  but  I  say  the  hand  that  holds  the  pocketbook, 
whether  male  or  female,  rules  mankind  everywhere." 

The  indignant  woman  discovered  that  Mr.  Wickham 
was  lying  against  the  door  with  his  hand  to  his  head, 
very  pale.  She  got  him  a  glass  of  water,  and  said,  "I 
hope  you  are  not  ill." 

Mr.  Wickham  replied :  "I  am  crushed ;  I  am  humil- 
iated; I  am  undone.  I  am  the  idiotic,  the  thrice  crazy 
Joshua  Wickham ! 

"O  what  a  prolific  -breeder  of  evil  that  parent  sin  has 
proven  to  be.  One  crooked  step  so  knocked  my  legs  out 
of  joint  that  my  whole  course  of  life  since  has  been  zig- 
zag. In  trying  to  veer  around  one  pitfall,  I  have  tumbled 


522  THE  PILGRIM 

into  many.  I  divided  my  estate  and  tried  to  run  away 
from  the  constant  reminder  of  my  great  sin  of  commission, 
and  what  a  prolific  brood  of  sins  of  omission  it  has  foaled ! 
Man  may,  with  impunity,  break  the  municipal  laws  of 
his  country,  pay  his  fines,  serve  his  sentence,  get  reprieved 
or  pardoned,  and  end  the  affair ;  but  if  he  breaks  a  law 
of  nature,  the  punishment  is  eternal.  Oh,  it  all  centers 
around  my  criminally  careless  breeding  of  my  offspring. 
How  commendably  careful  a  man  is  in  breeding  his  dogs, 
cows,  and  horses,  and  how  culpably  negligent  in  the  breed- 
ing of  his  own  children.  This  is  not  a  complaint  against 
a  thankless  child,  but  a  confessed,  unpardonable  sin  of  a 
culpable  father,  who  unwittingly  permitted  the  veins  of 
his  children  to  be  charged  with  barbarian  blood. 

"How  exacting,  how  wise,  how  just,  God  is!  No 
one  can  break  one  of  his  sacred  laws  without  being  lashed 
with  the  loose  ends  for  the  remainder  of  his  days.  My 
children  in  hunger  and  want?  Scrubbing  other  people's 
kitchens,  because  of  my  insane  folly?  My  good  woman 
ply  your  tongue!  You  cannot  find  epithets  with  keen 
enough  lashes  to  make  my  punishment  adequate  to  my 
offense.  I  shall  run  no  more  from  nature's  revenges!  I 
shall  devote  the  remainder  of  my  days  to  the  amelioration 
of  my  children's  hard  conditions.  What  a  pitiable  sacri- 
fice compared  with  the  irreparable  burden  I  have  fastened 
upon  them,  but  I  give  all  that  is  left  of  me,  what  more 
can  I  do  ?  This  is  the  dark  blur  on  an  otherwise  long 
life  of  unbroken  sunshine,  and  the  blur  threatens  to  spread 
into  a  midnight  eclipse.  Oh,  beware,  beware,  of  running 
counter  to  the  immutable  and  merciless  laws  of  na- 
ture!" 

The  astonished  woman  said,  "If  I  had  known  to 
whom  I  was  talking,  I  should  not  have  talked  as  I  did, 


AND   THE    PIONEER  623 

but  every  word  I  said  is  God's  truth,  I'll  stand  by  it." 

Mr.  Wickham  put  his  hands  to  his  head  and  ex- 
claimed, "Ingratitude,  ingratitude  is  the  spontaneous 
growth  of  this  money-mad  age!  It  all  grew  out  of  my 
fear  to  trust  that  Indian  blood,"  and  he  asked  if  all  his 
sons-in-law  were  gona 

"No,"  said  the  woman,  "Clear  Creek  and  Meadow 
Lark  died  without  children,  and  their  husbands  had  no 
occasion  to  leave,  but  poor,  grief-stricken  things,  before 
their  wives  had  been  dead  six  months  they  were  married 
again.  They  are  both  very  rich,  but  they  have  never 
helped  the  other  children  to  a  penny." 

The  woman  continued,  "You  lie  down  on  the  lounge 
and  rest  yourself  until  supper,  and  I  will  send  out  and 
have  your  girls  and  your  grandchildren  assemble  here 
after  supper  and  you  shall  stay  here  until  you  get  rested. 
I  suppose  those  worthless  sons-in-law  got  all  of  your  prop- 
erty any  how  and  you  could  not  go  to  the  hotel." 

"No,  thank  God,  I  have  some  means  and  can  help 
them  some  yet.  I  shall  care  for  them  while  I  live." 

"Then,"  said  the  woman,  "remember  that  women  in 
Colorado  are  entities ;  they  own  their  children,  their  prop- 
erty, and  themselves.  Put  what  you  give  them  in  the 
names  of  your  daughters  and  their  children  inalienably, 
and  my  word  for  it,  you  will  have  no  more  absconding 
sons-in-law." 

After  supper  the  four  daughters  and  their  children 
were  brought  in  and  mutual  explanations  were  given  of 
attempts  to  write,  husbands  intercepting  letters,  robbing 
them  of  their  property,  absconding,  etc. 

The  grandchildren  were  dirt-colored  but  bright-eyed, 
and  had  some  Caucasian  snap  about  them.  The  grand- 
father had  three  or  four  on  him  at  once,  putting  all  kinds 


524  THE  PILGRIM 

of  questions  to  him.  He  filled  their  little  hands  with 
more  silver  coin  than  they  had  ever  had  during  their  short 
lives  and  he  put  .fifty  dollars  into  the  hands  of  each  of  his 
daughters  and  told  them  to  give  up  their  places  and  he 
would  provide  for  them.' 

He  then  began  to  ask  the  children  about  school. 
Johnnie  told  him  that  he  did  not  like  to  go  to  school, 
and  his  grandfather  asked  why  he  did  not  like  to  go.  He 
replied  that  the  boys  were  mean  to  him,  called  him 
Gusher,  Gushing  Springs,  and  Springy,  etc.,  and  in  a 
criticising  tone  asked,  "Grandpa,  why  did  you  name 
mamma  Gushing  Spring?  Nobody  else  has  such  a  queer 
name." 

The  grandfather  answered,  "Your  grandmother  did 
it;  I  had  nothing  to  do  with  it;  when  your  mother  was 
born  we  were  camping  at  a  spring  that  gushed  from  under 
a  big  rock  with  as  much  force  as  water  from  a  Holly  sys- 
tem, and  your  grandmother  loved  that  spring  so  that  she 
named  your  mother  for  it" 

Anna  pulled  her  grandfather's  whiskers,  and  said, 
"The  girls  all  call  me  Birdie,  Campy,  etc.  Why  did  you 
name  mamma  Camp  Bird  ?" 

The  grandfather  answered,  "Where  we  were  camped 
when  your  mother  was  born  there  were  five  or  six  big 
Camp  Birds  that  lived  in  the  tepee  and  around  it,  mim- 
icked, and  talked  like  parrots.  Your  grandmother  made 
a  willow  basket  for  your  mother's  bed,  and  when  she  was 
six  or  seven  days  old,  your  grandmother  started  down  to 
the  spring  for  a  bucket  of  water  and  put  your  mother 
in  the  basket  out  in  the  sun  where  she  could  watch  her. 
As  soon  as  your  grandmother  got  away,  your  mother  be- 
gan to  cry,  and  these  Camp  Birds  flew  down  and  sat 
on  the  edge  of  the  basket  and  rocked  it  and  sang  the  same 


AND   THE    PIONEER  525 

lullaby  that  your  grandmother  did  from  day  to  day,  just 
as  well  as  your  grandmother  could.  This  so  affected  her 
that  she  named  your  mother  Camp  Bird." 

Lillian  said,  "They  use  me  worse  at  school  than  any 
of  them.  One  boy  will  say  to  another  boy,  'What's  a  hum- 
mer V.  The  other  boy  will  say,  The  daughter  of  a  hum- 
ming bird.'  The  first  boy  will  point  his  finger  at  me  and 
say,  'But  ain't  she  a  hummer,  though  ?'  Don't  you  think 
that  is  real  mean  ?  Grandpa,  what  did  you  go  and  name 
mamma  Humming  Bird  for  ?" 

Grandpa  answered,  "When  your  mother  was  a  tiny 
little  thing,  as  the  sun  rose  in  the  morning,  your  grand- 
mother tucked  the  blankets  around  her  in  her  little  willow 
basket,  just  leaving  a  little  hole  for  her  eyes,  nose,  and 
mouth,  and  then  put  her  out  in  the  sun.  As  soon  as 
she  set  her  out,  two  little  humming  birds  visited  her  from 
time  to  time  and  kissed  her  over  and  over  again,  fanning 
her  little  cheeks  with  their  wings,  and  this  so  touched  your 
grandmother  that  she  named  your  mamma  Humming 
Bird.  I  did  not  name  any  of  them." 

"Why  didn't  you  name  some  of  them?"  said  Anna. 
"Because  they  were  all  girls,"  replied  the  grandfather. 
"Aren't  girls  just  as  good  as  boys?"  piped  out  Humming 
Bird.  "Yes,"  answered  the  grandfather,  "in  the  eyes  of 
God,  or  in  the  eyes  of  the  ox,  or  the  ass,  or  the  ferocious 
wild  beasts,  but  in  the  eyes  of  selfish,  bigoted,  half  civil- 
ized men,  no." 

Anna's  mother  told  her  to  kiss  her  grandfather  good- 
night, say  her  prayers,  and  go  to  bed. 

The  Pioneer  pressed  her  to  him,  and  said:  "Stand 
on  your  knees  in  my  lap  and  let  me  hear  your  prayer." 

The  little  girl  blushed,  rubbed  her  fingers  over  his 


526  THE  PILGRIM 

nose,  and  replied,  "A  part  of  it  is  about  you,  and  I  should- 
n't like  to  say  that  where  you  could  hear  it." 

Her  mother  told  her  that  it  was  all  right,  she  should 
say  it  as  her  grandfather  desired. 

Anna  dropped  to  her  knees,  clasped  her  hands,  closed 
her  eyes,  and  in  a  confidential,  firm  voice,  proceeded, 
"Now  I  lay  me  down  to  sleep,  I  pray  the  Lord  my  soul 
to  keep,  and  I  pray  the  Lord  to  be  kind  to  Grandfather 
Hopping  Antelope  for  giving  Grandfather  Wickham 
Princess  Bluejay  for  his  wife,  that  mamma  and  aunties 
and  all  of  us  might  not  be  whole  Indians,  and  have  to 
wear  dirty  blankets,  live  in  cold,  dirty  tents  and  eat  herbs 
and  wild,  raw  meat.  Bless  Grandfather  Wickham  for  the 
great  sacrifice  he  made  for  mamma,  aunties  and  all  of  us 
in  making  us  half  white,  so  that  we  can  have  nice  houses, 
schools,  books,  churches,  Sunday  schools,  and  all  the  nice 
things  the  white  people  make,  and  if  any  of  us  die  before 
we  wake,  I  pray  the  Lord  our  souls  to  take." 

The  Pioneer  pressed  Anna  closer  to  him,  and 
looking  intently  at  one  after  another  in  the  room,  ex- 
claimed, with  a  very  much  affected  voice,  "Praying  for 
me?  Thanking  me,  the  criminal,  who  unfeelingly  and 
thoughtlessly  am  responsible  for  the  bringing  of  your 
mother  and  her  sisters  into  this  cold,  uncharitable  world, 
loaded  down  with  a  preponderance  of  untamed  Indian 
blood?  You  asking  a  blessing  on  me,  who  have  brought 
nothing  but  the  curse  of  inferiority  on  you  and  my  father's 
house " 

Anna  vigorously  broke  in,  saying,  "Wouldn't  mamma 
and  aunties  have  been  born  just  the  same,  if  you  had 
never  seen  or  married  Grandma  Princess  Bluejay?" 

The  Pioneer  ran  his  fingers  through  his  hair, 
shuffled  the  muscles  of  his  face  from  place  to  place, 


AND   THE   PIONEER  527 

stroked  the  raven  locks  of  the  little  girl,  and  quietly  re- 
plied, "That  question  would  stagger  a  Solon.  If  your 
grandmother,  Princess  Bluejay,  had  married  an  Indian 
prince,  which  she  certainly  would  have  done  if  she  had 
not  unfortunately  met  me,  she  would  certainly  have  had 
children.  They  would  probably  have  been  moulded 
closely  after  her  type.  Just  how  near  they  would  have 
been  the  same  persons,  if  the  Princess  Bluejay  had  mar- 
ried an  Indian  prince  instead  of  myself,  I  am  unable  to 
tell." 

Anna  looked  her  grandfather  straight  in  the  eyes 
and  continued,  "My  teacher  told  me  that  you  came  near 
losing  your  mind  because  mamma  and  aunties  looked  so 
much  like  Grandma  Blue  jay's  people,  and  so  little  like 
your  folks.  Don't  you  think  that  was  a  little  selfish  ?" 

After  a  moment  her  grandfather  replied,  "Not  for 
myself,  but  I  thought  my  children  would  be  better  treated 
and  more  respected  if  they  looked  like  white  persons  rather 
than  like  Indians." 

The  little  girl  put  her  index  finger  in  her  mouth  for 
a  moment,  then  dropped  it  to  her  lap,  and  said,  "If  mamma 
and  aunties  had  been  the  children  of  Grandma  Bluejay 
and  an  Indian  prince,  they  would  have  been  all  Indian, 
and  would  have  been  living  the  hard  and  dirty  lives  of 
Indians  and  wouldn't  have  had  any  schools,  books, 
churches,  Sunday  school,  or  nice  things  to  eat.  It  looks 
to  me  like  you  ought  to  be  glad." 

The  old  grandfather  answered,  "I  feel  ashamed,  com- 
pletely humiliated  that  I  should  have  brought  this  inex- 
cusable curse  of  inferiority  upon  my  progeny  for  untold 
generations  and  this  great  suffering  upon  you  and  upon 
your  mother  and  her  sisters.  Then  I  disgracefully  lowered 
my  branch  of  my  father's  house." 


528  THE  PILGRIM 

Anna  twisted  herself  around,  looked  at  the  stove  a 
moment,  then  replied,  "It  don't  look  that  way  to  me.  If 
the  Indian  prince  had  married  Grandma  Bluejay,  we 
would  all  be  just  common  Indians.  You  married  her,  and 
we  are  all  half  white,  and  have  all  of  the  nice  things  of 
the  white  people.  Grandpa,  if  you  are  so  sorry,  then 
why  did  you  leave  your  daughters  as  soon  as  grandma 
died,  and  stay  away  so  long  without  telling  anyone  where 
you  were  ?" 

"Because  of  chagrin,  disappointment,  and  humilia- 
tion," said  the  Pioneer.  "I  am  trying, — ah,  I  always 
intended  to  die  with  this  a  secret,  but  you  seduce  me,  you 
chaff  me,  you  instruct  me, — I  feel  compelled  to  tell  you 
in  self-defense.  When  your  grandmother  was  on  her 
death-bed,  I  had  a  physician  tell  her  gently  that  she  must 
die  soon.  Her  disease  was  consumption,  and  her  mind  was 
normal  until  death.  I  went  in  and  kindly  asked  about  her 
wishes,  generally.  She  said  that  the  only  wishes  she  had 
were  to  have  her  pinto  pony,  her  hornless  saddle,  the  45- 
Winchester,  her  bows  and  arrows,  her  Navajo  blankets, 
and  her  old  dog,  Drum,  buried  with  her.  She  showed  no 
concern  about  me  or  the  children.  She  would  sit  up  and 
tell  me  what  a  splendid  trip  she  would  have  to  the  Happy 
Hunting  Ground,  if  I  would  bury  her  equipment  with  her. 
She  was  anxious  to  get  into  the  deep,  dark  canons,  join  in 
the  chase,  and  feast  on  the  wild  meats  and  herbs  in  the 
world  beyond.  I  had  spent  twenty  long  years  in  trying 
to  educate  and  refine  her  tastes.  When  I  saw  my  dismal 
failure,  when  I  saw  the  same  barbarous  wild  Indian  that 
I  had  married  twenty  years  before, — when  I  saw  the  possi- 
bility of  my  daughters  inheriting  her  low  tastes  and  her 
many  superstitions,  my  brain  reeled  and  I  ran  from  the 
dismal  picture,  but  it  followed  me.  I  finally  abandoned 


AND   THE   PIONEER  529 

the  'Holy  Creed  of  Blessed  Optimism'  and  became  a  pessi- 
mistic child  of  despair." 

Anna  broke  in,  "That  was  very  sad,  grandpa,  but  I 
don't  see  what  good  running  away  from  your  daughters 
did.  They  are  just  as  much  Indian  now  as  they  were 
when  you  left,  and  they  have  suffered  awfully  because 
they  had  no  one  to  help  or  comfort  or  teach  them.  You 
say  you  were  troubled  because  your  children  were  inferior 
and  because  you  lowered  your  father's  house.  But  when 
you  lowered  your  father's  house,  you  raised  Grandma 
Bluejay's  house,  and  don't  you  think  it  needed  raising? 
If  you  hadn't  raised  Grandma  Bluejay's  house,  then 
mamma  and  aunties  and  all  of  us  would  have  been  whole 
Indians,  and  if  you  had  stayed  here  and  looked  after  your 
daughters,  you  could  have  raised  them  more." 

The  Pioneer  lifted  his  head,  his  face  brightened, 
he  grasped  his  temples  with  both  hands  and  exclaimed, 
"Ah !  Ah !  I  then  got  a  glimpse  of  the  beauties  of  the  'Holy 
Creed'  again.  I  felt  the  bottoms  of  the  deep  fissures  in 
which  my  compressed  thoughts  have  been  wedged  so  long, 
lift  themselves  toward  the  old  surface.'  I  felt  the  sweet 
spreading  sensation  of  resuscitation,  as  the  misty  spray 
of  generous  thought  crept  over  my  parched  and  desolate 
brain.  It  was  left  to  a  little  child  to  place  her  fulcrum 
on  the  cleavage  of  raising  the  house  of  Bluejay,  as  a  com- 
pensation for  lowering  mine;  to  suggest  that  Bluejay  might 
have  given  birth  to  substantially  the  same  daughters  with- 
out me,  that  my  act  may  prove  a  blessing  rather  than  a 
curse  to  this  progeny.  A  feasible  second  side  to  this 
assumedly  one-sided  question.  Ah!  this  is  but  unstable 
speculative  philosophy,  but  what  other  philosophy  of  life 
is  there?  Why  shouldn't  the  higher  civilized  races  make 
some  sacrifices  to  lift  the  less  civilized  ?  Might  my  daugh- 


530  THE  PILGRIM 

ters  not  have  been  born  substantially  the  same  without 
me?  I  seem  to  have  tickled  their  mother's  fecundity 
sufficiently  only  to  cause  her  to  mother  young  as  much  like 
herself  as  peas  from  the  same  pod  are  like  one  another. 
But  what  have  all  of  my  grief,  my  running  from  my  mis- 
takes, done  for  me  or  others?  They  have  augmented 
every  phase  of  the  evil  effects  following  the  original 
blunder!  They  have  photographed  me  on  the  minds  of 
my  contemporaries,  on  those  of  my  children  and  grand- 
children, as  an  arrant,  cowardly  weakling.  I  have  passed 
the  morning  of  my  life  in  the  cheerful  sunshine  of  'Blessed 
Optimism'  which  shed  its  glory  on  all  with  whom  I  came 
in  contact.  I  have  spent  the  evening  of  my  life  in  the 
gloomy  shades  of  gaunt,  blear-eyed  pessimism,  continually 
torturing  myself  into  a  withered,  useless  member  of  so- 
ciety, and  impoverishing  and  humiliating  my  children 
and  their  posterity. 

"O,  if  I  could  only  have  seen  before  it  was  too  late 
the  deeper  logic  of  life,  as  presented  by  this  little  child, 
I  might  have  turned  the  course  of  the  head-strong  mind 
in  time  to  have  warded  off  this  mess  of  disasters !  What 
a  change  this  would  have  wrought !  I  should  have  enjoyed 
placid  sunshine,  and  complacent  ease,  instead  of  these 
sombre  forebodings,  mental  anguishes,  and  bodily  weak- 
nesses. My  daughters  would  have  enjoyed,  plentifully, 
comforts  and  good  cheer,  instead  of  this  clammy  squalor, 
anguish  unspeakable  from  tired,  stiff  limbs,  and  a  general 
humiliation.  They  would  have  their  fortunes,  their  hus- 
bands, and  their  full  self-respect. 

"O,  if  I  only  could  have  had  the  prying'of  that  child 
shake  up  the  deep,  compressed  fissures  of  the  brain  in 
time  so  that  the  exuding  vaporings  from  generic  thought 
might  have  refertilized  the  desert  wastes  of  the  brain  be- 


AND   THE    PIONEER  531 

fore  my  setting  sun  came  so  close  to  the  Western  horizon. 
O,  procrastination,  wrecker  of  fame,  families,  and  fortune ! 
But  for  your  insinuating  intrusions  this  habit  of  weak, 
cowardly  thought  might  have  been  eradicated  without  all 
of  these  devastations !  They  have  had  possession  too  long ! 
They  have  so  entrenched  themselves  in  the  brain  that  they 
have  monopolized  all  of  its  fertile  functions.  It  is  too 
late — too  late  to  reclaim  these  fortunes,  to  blot  out  the 
deformities  of  these  grinding  miseries,  to  save  these  hus- 
bands !  I  can  but  bequeath  to  posterity  this  withered  field, 
with  a  dwarfed  monument  marked,  'WHAT  IS,'  standing 
in  the  shadows  of  a  towering  pyramid  marked,  'WHAT 
MIGHT  HAVE  BEEN'  if  an  imperious  courage  instead 
of  these  gaunt  forebodings  had  dominated  to  the  end.  I 
shall  leave  it  to  those  who  may  pass  along  the  way,  to 
determine  whether  the  wrecked  evening  of  this  propit- 
iously-begun life  was  due  more  to  the  unnatural  alliance 
with  untamed  Indian  blood  than  to  the  pessimistic  habit  of 
weak,  cowardly  thought." 


